Four points of the same star
by Annitha
Summary: AU-Canon. The black organisation has ruined Shinichi's life and not only his... What will happen if someone else that has been hurt by the organisation shows up? Can four teenagers manage to deal with it and make it fall? New chapter updated!
1. Prologue

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Detective Conan.

_Prologue_

They were walking side by side. Their.. _date_ had gone well and they had had a good time -if we don't count the murder and the time where he put the clues together and framed the killer.

She was still upset because of it. Why, he couldn't figure out. Maybe seeing dead bodies had become an habit to him. He didn't voice this thought loudly because he was sure that she would feel even worse. And, most important of all, he wasn't clever in calming a crying girl as he was in solving cases. A sudden movement caught his attention and he was pulled out of his train of thoughts.

"Hm?"

A man was furtively looking around himself in front of an alley, half hidden by a bush. Dressed in black from head to toe, he looked menacing more than just suspicious because of his sturdy build. The dark sunglasses that hid his eyes increased the mysterious aura around him.

'That's one of the those suspicious-looking guys on the coaster.." He recognised the man immediately for he had seen him less than half an hour ago at the murder scene.

The man's suspicious attitude made all his detective's sirens ring like mad. He knew that the black man was up to something; maybe along with the icy blond that had been with him before.

He wouldn't be the great high school detective, saviour of the police department if couldn't recognise a criminal or, at least, a possible one with one look.

He had to follow him and see what he was up to. Then, he would call the police and hand in yet another criminal to justice.

_Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies._

_Friedrich Nietzcshe_

-:-

"Sorry, Ran!" he said, starting to run. He turned his head to her and winked playfully. "Go on ahead of me!"

"Eh?" she replied, taken aback. She was still in a state of shocked confusion, thinking of the reasons for which a girl of her age could kill. She stopped half way from drying her tears with her jacket's sleeve and looked at him.

"I'll catch up with you right away!" he assured, waving at her and running in the opposite direction.

"Shi-" she stammered, "Shinichi.." Her feeble attempt to stop him didn't even reach him. It was too late: he had already disappeared in the crowd that was leaving the park. A small frown creased the girl's face and a sudden, unknown feeling flooded her body.

What was it? Concern? Or.. Anguish?

She stayed immobile there for a few minutes. Afterwards, she shook her head, in an attempt to free herself from that bad feeling. After one last glance at the spot where she had seen him before he vanished, she turned around and walked to the park's front gates. A gust of wind lifted leaves, dust and a few old newspapers that were on the side walk, making them twirl together close to her legs. She shivered slightly and wrapped her jacket tighter around herself.

"I'll call him later." she said to herself as she walked towards the bus stop, "And tomorrow at school, I'll give that detective-otaku a nice speech for leaving me like that."

She didn't know that it would be a long time before she would see him again.

At least, in the form she was used to see him.

-:-

1.

He was peeking at the stout man from behind a wall. He was with another man who looked extremely frightened and that was carrying a briefcase. The moment the other opened the case, he knew that he was witnessing something big.

'Whoa..' he thought in awe, 'There's got to be at least 100 million yen in there..'

He had immediately understood what was going on. The black dressed man was black-mailing the other man. All that money for a film with compromising evidences. He slipped a hand in his pocket and drew out a small camera. He started to take a few shots of the exchange of money.

He was so keen and concentrated in taking the photos that he didn't notice the movement behind him.

"Your detective game is over!"

The icy tone reached him too late but he recognised it nevertheless. The blond.

He felt a sharp pain at the back of his head. The sickening sound of metal against his skull and something warm oozing down his neck.

His blood.

He fell to the ground while stars danced before his eyes. The men's' voices reached him from afar.

"A-Aniki.." the stout man stuttered, approaching the blond. He sounded clearly uncomfortable.

"This little bastard was trailing us.." the blond replied. His tone was chilling.

"Should we kill him?"

"No, no guns! The police is still wandering around because of that damn murder earlier!" There was a pause and he heard a soft click. "We'll use this."

There was a creepy hint of amusement in his tone that chilled him. He realised that his sight was slowly dimming: he could only see the men' shadows towering over him now.

"The new poison the Organisation developed." The blond smiled evilly as he grabbed his hair and forced him face up. "You can't find any signs of poison in the body with this stuff. We haven't tested it on humans yet.."

He felt himself being lifted. He tried to fight back but his body didn't seem to respond to his brain's orders.

"So this will be our guinea pig.."

Something went down his throat with some cold water. He fell to the ground with a dull thud, unable to move and eyes half-closed. The tall man turned to him.

"So long.. Detective." he hissed viciously.

As they walked away, neither of the men in black had noticed that the boy was still conscious. He was suffering the pains of Hell but he hadn't passed out.

_Hot._

He was feeling an unbearable heat course through his body. His nails dug into the ground, his fingers ripped strands of grass. This was the only movement his body could do as he was there face-down on the ground.

'My body..' he thought, 'It's.. It's hot!' White wisps of smoke came from his body. 'My bones.. It's like they're melting!'

He struggled to keep awake but his eyelids were drooping close.

'No..'

He knew that if he fell asleep, he wouldn't wake up. But the pain was too much. He was exhausted..

He could see the smoke coming from his body slowly envelope him. It was all white around him. As his eyes closed, it turned grey.

And then it was all black.

-:-

_'Voices...'_

"Hey, come here! We've got a dead body!"

"What?"

_'Haha.. So.. I really am dead..'_

"Wait, he's still breathing!"

"Hurry, call the paramedics!"

_'I'm.. alive?'_ His eyelids fluttered and he saw shadows dancing in front of him._ 'Ah, so that poison doesn't work on humans!'_

"Damn.. His head's all bloody.."

_'I'm lucky..'_

"Hey, wake up!"

His sight bettered slightly and he could make out who was in front of him.

_'Policemen?'_ he thought, squinting and finally seeing the people in front of him. 'A whole bunch of them..'

"Are you okay?"

'This is great!' he inwardly rejoiced, 'Now I can tell everyone what they were doing!'

He squinted as he tried to focus. A ray of light from one of the torch lights the policemen were holding hurt his eyes.

"Can you stand up?" the man closest to him asked, holding out a friendly hand. "Little boy?"

His eyes popped open and his vision turned back. But he didn't bother. What did that man just call him?

He sat up in bewilderment.

_"What?"_

-:-

2.

The bus stopped in front of the airport's entrance. A flock of people got down and headed to the revolving doors, dragging trolleys and suitcases.

He walked with the crowd, trying to look as normal as possible and avoiding to bump into the ones that were leaving the airport. He looked like a common teenager on his way home after a trip with the sports bag slung on his shoulder and his casual attire. The airport was packed with passengers that were going to board or had just boarded from their flights. A faint, proud smile crossed his face when he realised that his choice for the flight had been excellent. With all these people, anyone would have a hard time spotting him. Even Them.

He approached his flight's counter and handed out his ticket to the agent standing behind the desk. The woman checked it and then handed it back to him, smiling brightly. He gave her a small, shy smile in reply. He turned around and walked towards the terminal and looked up at the plasma screens where the planes departures and arrivals were listed.

'Japan Airlines..' He read the name of his flight on the first row. 'Tokyo..'

He sighed ever so lightly and brushed a hand through his hair.

This was the fourth plane he was taking in less than 24 hours. He had planned his departure in every detail and had thought that exchanging planes in different airports would have made it harder to track him down.

First New York, then Washington, Los Angeles and now.. Tokyo.

Five years. He was going back to his homeland after five years. But his return was not as he had expected.

Coming to think of it, he had never thought that he would have returned to Japan.

Not now that he had no one to return with. Nor anyone who would be waiting for him.

A voice echoed in the terminal announcing that the plane was ready to board the passengers. He lined up behind a young man with a briefcase and watched as one by one, the passengers walked through the metal detectors. The policemen were carefully watching both the people and the screen that showed the items in the hand luggage. He inwardly rejoiced that most of his things were already shipped to Japan. Including his weapons. They were packed in a locked metal box, unloaded and with the safety on. He had been very cautious.

He walked through the detector and took his bag and glasses and proceeded towards the plane down the corridor. Every step he took made him realise that he was really leaving.

But what could he do?

He was nothing now.

No one.

A no one that was wanted both by the Good and the Bad. He was a danger to everyone around him.

Leaving was the best thing he could do.

Escaping was the only thing he had left.

-:-

He fastened the belt as the air hostess had requested. Next to him was the young man with the briefcase.

The latter opened his hand luggage and withdrew a folded newspaper that he immediately started to read.

He peeked at the paper but the headlines didn't interest him so he diverted his stare to the window. The sky was ink blue and streaked with reddish lines at the horizon where the sun had just disappeared. The first stars were timidly shining above him.

The plane began to move. He felt the light pressure and he sank slightly in his seat but his gaze was still fixed at the view out of the window. The airport was moving out of sight very slowly.

He leaned his head to a side till the cool surface of the window touched his forehead. The plane was taking speed: it was going to take off.

He looked out. This was probably the last time he'd see the States. His second country.

Memories flooded his mind. Regret and deep sadness pooled in his heart. He thought of the people he was leaving behind.

'Did they get my message?' he thought, 'Do they know that they're in danger?'

His family. His second family: images of them flew before his eyes.

'No one will _ever_ harm them.' he thought fiercely.

Another face swam in his mind. His heart lurched and the feeling of loss increased as the plane took off into the dark sky.

He was leaving... her.

'No one must harm you.' he thought as the land became far from view. He shut his eyes and swallowed the lump that threatened to come up his throat.

He had made mistakes. He had been reckless and not careful enough.

Nobody had to be harmed.

'Not because of me..'

_For we lose not only by death,_

_But also by leaving and being left,_

_By changing and letting go and moving on._

_Judith Viorst_

-:-

3.

Cold.

Darkness.

Loneliness.

She wondered how these things could still bother her. It was the story of her life.

Cold stares from people who could kill a person without feeling anything. Dark corridors in an equally dark, in both literal and figurative sense, building controlled by inferred cameras. No one to trust or to care for.

Alone.

She was alone.

She moved slightly: the first movement in hours. She was in a dark and cold room. And she was alone.

'I don't have anybody..' she thought colourlessly, 'No one..'

She had spent years with Them. So much time that she couldn't even remember if there had been a time when she was free and not enslaved and trapped in that cage that resembled hell. She had resisted with all her might. Despite all their attempts, she had kept her heart free from their darkness. She was emotionless, cold at times and maybe even cynical but not cruel. She had fought and saved herself from being completely indoctrinated and turn into one of Them. Moreover, she had done something that was banned among Them.

She had hoped.

She had allowed a minuscule spark of hope to shine in her heart, hidden behind the walls that enclosed her feelings. The hope that, one day, she would be free. Free from Them.

And once free, she would finally be with-

She gritted her teeth as though enduring a physical pain. Reality hit her like a slap on the face.

She was _alone_. She had no hope left.

They had taken away the only reason for which she had resisted. Her key to freedom had vanished: she didn't have any reason left now.

She moved again, ignoring her cramped muscles. Her left arm was stiff but she wasn't surprised: she had been handcuffed for hours.

She slowly gazed around the chamber. They were going to sentence her to death.

'No.' she thought, 'They will not kill me.'

Without faltering, she reached for the item in her lab coat. She had pocketed it without Their knowing. She carefully held up her hand, bringing the item to eye-level.

A capsule.

The work of a life. First her parents, now hers.

'How could I have been so.. foolish..' she wondered, 'Only to think that this, _t__his_, would have been the last task. That _this_ would have freed both.'

If she had to die, she would do it with her own hands. Not by Them.

Not like they had killed _her_.

'Nee-chan.. I'm on my way.'

She popped the pill in her mouth with hesitation. And she waited. She was its creator: she knew that the effect was immediate.

She gasped in pain.

_Hot_.

Her body was hot. She felt as though she was melting.

Was this what the others had felt? The ones that had tested the poison, if we can say so. She was finding out personally what were the effects of her creation.

She failed to stifle a cry.

Pain. Heat. It all mingled together. She clapped her free hand to her mouth to block any other shout and struggled to fight back the pain.

And then, it went all black.

-:-

She didn't know what shocked her most. The fact that she was alive or the fact that the chamber seemed larger than before.

She slowly got up, wondering why the poison had failed when she realised that she wasn't handcuffed to the pipes any more.

'How-?' she thought, mildly bewildered and looked at her hand. She then noticed that she was wearing a lab coat and clothes that were at least three sizes larger than her own.

All sorts of theories crossed her mind. Some had a scientific basis while others were simple absurdities.

But absurd or not, she slowly came up with the only conclusion her rational mind could find.

She was.. smaller. She had shrunk to be exact.

'Someone up there, hates me..' she thought bitterly, looking at herself.

Why couldn't she just die? Why? Why endure this life while all- the only one she loved was gone?

She was still trying to accept her new form when she recalled her last expedition to that detective's house. Kudo Shinichi.

Gin had given him the pill but the body hadn't been found. The house was inhabited: she had been there twice and saw it's state. She then remembered the child clothes that had disappeared when she gone there the second time.

She had said that he was dead because she knew that They would have wanted to take advantage of the situation. To use the poison's side-effect for their own purposes. Moreover, as a scientist, she wanted to see if rejuvenating was really possible with her creation.

Well, she now knew that it_was __possible_.

She recalled the lab mice that had turned younger. One case over fifty. How ironic that she was one of the 'lucky' cases..

Footsteps coming from afar jolted her out of her thoughts. Them.

She had to escape.

If they saw her now..

Her head jerked upwards to look for any way-out and she saw the ventilation pipe. It was small but with this size, she could..

-:-

She didn't remember exactly how did it but she got out. And once outside, when the cold wind blew at her making her wrap her over-large lab coat around her small body, when she saw dark clouds gathering in the ink blue sky, she realised the enormity of her situation.

She had escaped.

Free. She was free.

No. They would be after her.

Where to go? She was alone. Where could she seek help?

The name appeared clearly in her mind. It was the only one she knew.

After all, how many could share this fate? She could... go there.

She didn't have anything to loose after all.

It was worth a try to meet the other teenage child.

_If there's one spark of hope_

_Left in my glass,_

_I'm holding it with both hands_

_It's worth the risk of burning_

_To have a second chance_

_Brenda K. Starr  
_

-:-

4.

Commercials.

Soap Opera.

Commercials _again_.

Cartoons.

_Another_ soap opera.

'What the heck...?!' she thought, annoyed after having spent the last five minutes punching the remote controller's buttons. 'Isn't there the news at this-?'

She turned to the clock on the wall and frowned slightly. It was still early for the noon news. With a sigh, she turned off the television and stood up. She walked to the window and looked out. New York was busy as usual: cars, taxis and a few buses were lined up beneath her and looked like a long, multicoloured snake that slithered on the grey streets. Motorbikes weaved through the still vehicles, earning quite a bit of insults from their occupants.

It was a daily scene.

But not for her..

She turned and scanned the room.

The bed where she had been sitting since the early hours of the day. A wardrobe. A table with a small television on top and a chair with a jacket thrown on it. A small bathroom on the right. On the floor was a sports bag and a laptop bag.

Nothing more. But she couldn't expect better from the anonymous hotel she had picked out in half an hour. Anonymous, unknown and without many expectations.

She walked to the bed again and fell on top of it. A bit of dust erupted from the blanket but she didn't bother to it that much though it itched her nose. She placed an arm over her eyes, shielding herself from the sun beams that poked through the shutter's holes.

She was hiding.

This was the fourth day that she was there. She didn't know for how long it would last. Nor if it would last. All depended on the last turn of events; if their plan had worked, then she still had a chance.

Chance to carry on their work.

To save herself.

But most of all, to find him.

He had sent them a message. A short note that had shattered their certitudes and exposed their weakness.

But it had given them time to plan up something. Though the plan had a cost..

She stayed still for a while, lost in her thoughts and not bothering to the daily racket coming from outside. She stirred only when, carelessly moving her hand, she hit the remote control that she had thrown on the bed in frustration before. She turned the TV on and started zapping again.

An image caught her eye.

She bolted straight up and watched the screen while a sickening feel began to build in her stomach.

A reporter was standing under a bridge. Behind him was visible the yellow banner used by the police forces during cases. As a matter of fact, a few police cars were visible too.

But she noticed all of this in a second moment. The thing that had made her stop her channel- switching was there.

A charcoal, fuming, metallic mass.

A car. Or what used to be one.

The reporter's voice reached her from afar.

"The police forces are still baffled by this unexpected and extreme event." he said with an enthusiastic voice that was quite out of place. He surely was a beginning journalist that had started his career as reporter with a big event. And this was one.

"As I said at the beginning, the flames attracted the attention of a by-passing car driver that immediately alerted the firemen and then the police. Once extinguished the fire, the men discovered the horrific truth."

The reporter paused dramatically and put up a face that should have been sombre.

"Inside the car was a person. Burnt to death.

The police is still working to find the identity of the victim. It seems that the car doors' were locked from inside, so that brings us to the only conclusion. It was a.."

The reporter abruptly looked up, leaving his statement incomplete and disappeared from the screen. There was a moment of quiet murmuring coming from the background and he reappeared again, looking quite excited. The whole sombre attitude had vanished.

"There is a last-minute update." the reporter announced, "Policemen have found a few precious evidences that allowed them to identify the victim." He rustled through the papers of the notebook in his hand. "A chain and.. the carbonized rests of a passport. The victim is a female and it seems that she was in the police forces too but the policemen are not so keen in giving more explanations."

She had stopped listening to him and her stare wandered to what was happening behind the man. She noticed a car halting and a couple of men came out, their faces sombre. She immediately recognised their jackets and badges. Something coiled in her stomach when she recognized the two men's faces.

"As for the victim.." the reporter's voice entered her head again, "She was young, not even twenty. What brought her to this extreme action?" His tone had turned dramatic and theatrical all together.

"Why did she- ? Huh?" He stopped half-way again and a piece of paper was handed to him from a person that was out of screen. "We have the name. She was a foreigner and her name was-"

The TV went off.

She tossed the remote away and got up. She went to the window and her head moved closer to pane till she felt the cool surface touch her forehead.

She felt numb.

Lost.

But this was what she had expected from the beginning.

The confirmation.

The reporter's words echoed in her head.

_She was young, not even twenty. What brought her to this extreme action?_

'You have _no_ idea..' she thought. The minutes passed and she stayed there with her head touching the glass. After a while, she stood straight and turned around, determination in her eyes.

"I have to move." she whispered. There was no time for regrets or whatsoever. She was doing the right thing despite what she had to set up..

"Let's start."

_All truth is not to be told at all times._

_Thomas Fuller_

-:-

* * *

Hi, I decided to re-post all the story with a bit of corrections here and there. And a few things have been added, like this chapter.

Hope you'll like it.

Read and Enjoy!

REVIEW!


	2. Just another normal morning

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Detective Conan.

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

_**Cha**__**pter One**_

_Another normal morning_

-:-

_The ray of light hit his eyes again. He shut them close and then opened them._

_"Are you ok, little boy?" the policeman asked wit__h concern._

_He looked at him._

_'Little boy..?', he thought with mild annoyance, 'What the hell is he talking about? I'm in Junior High!' That man surely needed to get his eye-sight checked._

_"How did you hurt your head?"_

_'Hurt?' He absently reached for the back of his head and winced. 'Oh, I got hit from behind by that guy in black..' He recalled the past event very clearly. As he lowered his arm, he noticed something._

_His clothes..._

_"Eh?"_

_His sweatshirt._

_"Huh?"_

_His trousers._

_'What..?' he wondered in bewilderment, 'What the...?'_

_**Why**__ was he wearing clothes that were exactly like his but.. __**three**__ times larger?_

_He was__ so engrossed in his thinking that he didn't realised that a policeman had approached and.._

_"You must have been scared but we're here now." He said, reaching down at him "So don't worry little guy!"_

_"What?"_

_With incredible ease, the police lifted him up!_

_'He's tossing me around..' he thought in shock. What kind of man was this one? What was he, a body builder disguised as a cop?_

_Another policeman drew out a walkie-talkie and started talking._

_"Yeah, we're at site B, and we've found an inured boy." he reported, "We're taking him to the medical room." He paused and then turned to him. "Hmm.. I'd guess he's about five or seven.."_

_'What?'_

_"Grade school, I'd say." the man ended._

_He looked at the policeman who was putting the device away in utter dismay._

_'Who's in grade school?'_

_The next thing he knew was being taken to a medical room to be treated. A nurse cleaned the blood from his head and the doctor bandaged him._

_-:-_

_"Didn't I tell you that already?"_

_He was tired of explaining. Why didn't they understand?_

_"I saw them!" he exclaimed, "There was a guy smuggling guns and another one blackmailing him! But then one of his friends found me.. and he whacked me on the back of my head.." He waved his hands in the spur of the moment._

_"Ok, kid.." a policeman said, fighting hard not to laugh out. The smiling doctor and the nurse giggling behind a clip board were not helping however. "You've seen too many police dramas.."_

_"I'm not a kid!" he shouted in anger, "I'm a junior in High School!"_

_He didn't know what exactly was amusing in his sentence but the entire room roared in laughter. Crestfallen, disappointed and definitely annoyed, he sighed and stood alone in a corner of the room, watching the men whispering to each other._

_Only then, he noticed another odd thing..._

_'Damn those guys are big..' he thought, 'How many meters tall are they?' He was fairly tall himself but these guys were on a league of their own.._

_He absently crossed his arm behind his head and grazed his wound._

_"Ow.." he flinched. He turned around and saw a large mirror._

_"Damn.." he muttered, touching his bandage, "That jerk hit me as hard as he could.."_

_The words died in his mouth._

_"Wha...?" he exclaimed and slammed his hands against the mirror._

_He finally saw himself..  
_

_**"Conan-kun, wake up! You'll be late for school!" **_

Blue eyes opened with a start and the small boy sat up straight as the girl's voice reached him. His dark fringe was clung to his forehead due to the sweat. He reached for the glasses on the bedside table next to him and, automatically, put them on.

His mind wandered to his dream. Or better his daily nightmare..

Shinichi Kudo did not die that day but had shrunk into a child.

It was so absurd that if it hadn't happened to him, he probably wouldn't have believed it. A drug that could shrink a sixteen year old to a six year old!

But the worse yet had to come..

He had to drop his true identity and had became Conan Edogawa, seven year old grade school student, in order to be safe. He had to thank his faithful friend Hiroshi Agase for that. At the beginning, on the spur of the moment, his first thought had been to tell everyone the truth about his shrinking and find the men in black. Hakase had wisely dissuaded him.

But the problem was still there: he was still a child after.. how much? Nearly a year. One constant question kept running through his mind besides the one regarding the Men in Black's location.

How could have he been so... reckless? Stupid? Careless? Idiotic?

'One mistake and look how one's life can be ruined.' he thought bitterly.

But there was still hope. If the antidote was made, he could..

"Conan-kun!" Ran's voice echoed throughout the house. "Get up and get ready! Your friends will be here to pick you up soon and you aren't even dressed!"

"Yes, Ran-neechan." he called out and snapped out of his thoughts and walked to the bathroom. As he walked down the corridor, he caught a glimpse of his childhood friend, rummaging in the kitchen. His eyes lingered on her face for a few seconds. She looked so calm and cheerful but he knew that she hid her inner feelings under that tender smile of hers.

'Because of my recklessness, you are suffering too..' he thought sadly as his eyes followed her movements. She opened a cupboard, drew out a bowl, added a pinch of salt to the porridge and mixed it with a wooden spoon.

All so normal but yet, he could see the subtle differences. Her paler complexion, the light puffiness of her eyes..

And it was all his fault.

'Ran..'

-:-

"Here, eat Conan-kun."

Ran placed a bowl of porridge in front of him and smiled broadly as she sat down in the chair next to the boy. She watched him take the spoon and start to eat. Only then, she took a spoon herself and started to have breakfast too.

For a couple of minutes, the only sound in the kitchen was their spoons hitting the bowls softly.

"Do you want more, Conan-kun?" she asked in a motherly- fashion.

The boy looked at her and smiled slightly, nodding. Ran got up and filled the bowl again.

She treated the little boy as a younger brother and was very fond of him: he had become part of her family. Conan seemed to be very fond of her too. He always came with her when she went out, watching over her in case she needed help.

He reminded her of Shinichi at times. Well, many times to be truthful...

'Shinichi..' she thought. He had disappeared after their "date" at the park and had showed up just once from that time. He phoned every now and then, telling her of his life abroad and asking how she was doing.

But whenever she asked when he would be back, his words were always the same.

_"I'm working on a case, Ran. Sorry, but I don't know how much it will take. I'm very busy but don't worry! Understood?"_

She looked at the small boy that was eating next to her and smiled. Conan was always there for her.

"Ran, where's _my_ breakfast?"

A waft of cigarette smoke mixed with beer and maybe some other alcoholic filled the kitchen as the "Great Sleeping Detective" entered the room.

"The famous detective Kogoroh Mouri is surely more important than that brat!" her father said pointing to Conan who bit back a witty reply and went on eating.

Ran frowned.

"I thought you'd never wake up this early since you came back at... what time was it?" she asked, "Two in the morning?Or was it even later?"

Kogoroh sweat dropped. Ran went on, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"How did the party with your friends go last night?" she asked nonchalantly. Both Conan and Kogoroh noticed that the spoon that she was holding in her right hand was slowly bending as though it was made of rubber and not iron.

Conan smirked as Kogoroh shot a guilty look to his daughter.

"Well, I... uhm ..." he stammered.

Ran grinned, getting up to prepare her dad's breakfast while the man

'The most ridiculous thing is that after I shrank, I didn't only have to come and live with Ran..' Conan thought, taking a sip of tea, 'But thanks to _my_ skills, this second-class detective is famous all around Japan!'

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang loudly. Ran went to answer.

"Your friends have come, Conan-kun." Ran called.

Conan got up, picked up his school bag and headed to the door.

"Bye. " he said to Kogoroh who was munching his breakfast and didn't bother to reply. "See you later, Ran-neechan!"

"Bye and have a good day at school, Conan-kun". the girl replied with a smile.

'Have a good day at school?' Conan thought, as he went down the stairs. 'It will be a bore as usual!'

_"Good morning, Conan-kun!"_

He was greeted cheerfully by three well known, smiling seven-year old kids, two boys and a girl.

"Hi, guys." he said with a slight smile.

"Come on, let's go. We still have to pick up Haibara-san." Mitsuhiko said, hoping that nobody would notice that he was quite keen to see the girl.

"Yeah, we have to be quick or we'll be late to school." said Ayumi.

"Who cares?" said Genta.

The three started to walk on the sidewalk, chattering between themselves, while Conan trailed behind silently,randomly answering their questions with monosyllabic answers such as yes, no, maybe, yeah and sure.

'It's just another normal morning for Conan Edogawa.' he thought, ' Just another 'normal' morning for Shinichi Kudo.'


	3. A letter from a friend

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER:I do not own Detective Conan .

A.N: A few corrections have been made.

' ...' characters thoughts

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

_**Chapter 2**_

_A letter from a friend_

_"Haibara-san, we're here! Are you ready?"  
_

They had just arrived in front of Professor Agase's house. The three kids were waiting eagerly while Conan was still lost in his thoughts. He kept glancing at the house next door.

_His_ house.

It had been empty since his accident and nobody ever went in. No one besides Ran or Agase who cleaned it up a bit, every once in a while.

He missed it. He missed his room; he missed his things.

At the beginning, he occasionally went back in and took some stuff to taka at Hakase's place such as books or cloths but after Haibara's revelations, he became more careful and his visits home ceased. The men of the Organisation had been there twice to make sure he was really dead and she had been there, too to get proof of this.

She was the only one that had noticed that some of his children's clothes had disappeared from a drawer; she was the only one that had guessed that Shinichi Kudo may have not died but might have been turned into a child. But she did not reveal it to anyone. He was, in her words, -an interesting experiment, that she did not want to waste.

Shortly after that, she became an experiment to study too.

The Organisation killed her sister, her only living relative. They had decided to kill her, too, after her refusal to continue the research on the poison, but she managed to save herself. The poison that was the work of all her life betrayed her, it's creator, the moment she had decided to take it and commit suicide. She became a child and found a way to escape betraying the Organisation.

They met each other shortly after. Agase found her unconscious in front of the his house and helped her. He gave her a new name, Ai Haibara and a new home.

It was strange how destiny had played with the two them.. They were so alike but yet... so different.

Conan shook his head.

'Damn, what's wrong with me today?' he thought, 'Last night's dream has tampered my thoughts! I've never spent so much time thinking of the past!'

The front door opened and he was diverted from his musings. He looked at his side and saw the reddish-blonde haired little girl come out.

"Good morning, Haibara-san!" Mitsuhiko and Genta said cheerfully.

"Hello." the girl's tone was flat as usual. She shot a glance at him and Conan nodded imperceptbly.

It was their way of greeting each other.

"Good morning, Ai-chan!" Ayumi chirped.

"Good morning, Ayumi-chan." Ai replied with the faintest hint of a smile.

They were going to go when Agase rushed out.

"Ai-kun, wait a minute!" he called, "Can you come back a second?"

Ai and Conan turned around in unison and the boy watched with mild curiousity as the girl retreated to the door where the old scientist was. They talked so softly that the other four couldn't hear them.

"Thank you, Ai-kun." Agase said, giving the girl a parcel, "I have just remembered it."

"It's nothing, Agase. See you later." she said, leaving him at door frame. "Bye."

"Bye, Professor!" the three children yelled.

"Bye, children!" the scientist said with a smile.

-:-

The five children were walking together, heading to their school. Three were chattering loudly while the other two trailed behind silently.

"Genta-kun, why are so worried?" Ayumi asked, noticing the boy's strange face.

"Today we'll get our math tests back, right? I am sure I did it all wrong! My mom will get very, very angry with me."

"Why didn't you study? No, don't tell me: you've passed the whole day playing at the game-centre, didn't you?" said Mitsuhiko with a slightly amused face.

"Well... " Genta stammered, getting red.

"You can't only think of having fun, Genta-kun." the freckled boy admonished him, "School's important and..."

"Aw.. cut it out! My mom will tell me same when I get home!"

"How did your tests go?" Ayumi asked, turning to the boy and girl behind her.

"Why do you ask?" said Genta enviously. "They probably got top marks, as usual!"

Conan and Ai smirked slightly. It was natural that they did well: they were seventeen years old. A first grade test was something they could blind folded.

"I think I did well, Ayumi-chan." Conan replied.

"I think so, too." said Ai.

"Really? You two are great!" Mitsuhiko and Ayumi exclaimed in awe.

The three kids always treated Ai and Conan with a certain amount respect. It seemed that they knew everything from their point of view.

As they reached the school, Genta's mood had not improved.

"Genta-kun, why don't check out your locker?" Ayumi said, in an attempt to cheer him, "Maybe someone has left a note for us."

"Yeah, there could be a new case for the Detective Boys!" Mitsuhiko added.

"You're right! I'll go and check." Genta said and ran in followed by the other two.

Conan shook his head.

'Great idea I had to give them those badges and let them carry on that crazy idea of the detective's group.' he thought. Every time they faced a case, a real one, _he_ solved it and the others got the merits, saying that their help had been vital. But he didn't mind it, after all. Those kids were annoying at times but they were his friends.

He was going to enter the school gates, when a voice made him stop.

"Kudo, wait a minute."

"Huh?" he asked, turning to Ai. "What?"

She opened her school bag, took out the parcel Prof. Agase had given her before and handed it out to him.

"Agase has been taking the mail down at house in these months but he always forgot to give it to you while you were around. This morning, however, he remembered and asked me to do it."

"Why didn't he give it to me directly then?" he asked taking the parcel, "I was there, too."

"The others would have noticed that the mail was for Shinichi Kudo and not to Conan Edogawa. They would have started to ask questions. That's why he told me to take it and give it to you when it was possible." she replied. She looked at him with sarcasm, "You're the famous detective, Kudo, I thought you guessed it immediately."

Conan rolled his eyes

"Very funny, Haibara." he said.

The girl just smirked and went in while he followed her, putting the parcel inside his bag.

'I'll read it at lunch time.' he thought.

-:-

The Detective Boys were sitting together at the same lunch table. They had received their test papers and Genta was so glum that he nearly lost his appetite. Ayumi and Mitsuhiko tried their best to cheer him up a bit.

"Come on, Genta-kun, don't worry!" Mitsuhiko said, "You'll do better next time."

"Yes, he's right." Ayumi said, "And we'll help you, too. Right?" She turned to Conan and Ai with a tooth-aching sweet smile, waiting for their support.

"Yes, we will." were their monotone replies.

"See? They'll help you."

Genta, actually, felt better. If Conan and Ai helped him, he'd surely pass.

After lunch, the group went outside: the kids wanted to play hide and seek.

"I'll wait for you by the swings, guys." Conan said, " I don't feel like running today."

"Are you sure, Conan-kun?" Ayumi asked.

He nodded.

"Don't worry." he said with a smile.

Ayumi blushed

"O...Ok." she stammered, "And you, Ai-chan?"

"I'll wait too. I'll read a bit." Ai replied, holding a magazine.

"O.k, see you later, then." and she ran off to play.

-:-

By the swings

Conan and Ai were sitting on the swings, without speaking to each other. God knew which was the relationship between them: they knew too much about each other to be strangers but did not understand each other enough to be close friends. But when in need, they always found a way to help and support one another. They were a weird couple of friends.

Ai was reading her magazine when she noticed that Conan pulling something out his jacket pocket. It was his parcel.

"You're going to read your mail now?" she asked without raising her eyes from the magazine.

"Well, yes. There's nobody around and by the way who would care?" he replied. He looked at her sideways and saw that she was watching him. He cocked an eyebrow ironically. "Are you curious to know what I received, Haibara?"

"You'll only find bills and advertisements, Kudo." she replied.

Conan just rolled his eyes and started to open the parcel. He found a small pile of envelopes inside.

"Well, let's see: light bill ... gas bill... advertisement.. another one, another advertisement, water bill, advertisement.. phone bill.." Conan sweat dropped. Ai snickered.

'Why did Agase keep all this rubbish?' he thought furiously. Then, he noticed two letters under a another advertisement.

"Who sent me these? " he muttered, a bit confused. He didn't expect letters from anyone.

He immediately recognized one of the envelopes.

It was large and white with the sender's address and name typed on a side and with a small logo on the top, opposite the stamps place: the masked face of the Night Baron, his father's most famous character.

'Why did dad send me a later from his office?' he thought, 'Wait, it can't be him..probably, Mom who didn't find an envelope and borrowed one of his. Ok... but why write to me? They could have called... Damn, they can't call me! I live with the Mouri's: Ran could recognize their voices in a second. Well, if Mom wrote this, I'll read it later. I'm sure it's full of questions like: Are you well? Why don't you come and live with us? and whatsover.'

Conan slipped his parent's letter back in his pocket, got up and threw the mail in the bin. All except the other letter he had recieved. He sat down again and read the sender's name.

Ai had been watching Conan the whole time out the corner of her eye, and when he sat down again, she glanced at him casually and saw a grin creeping on his face. She raised her eyebrow slightly and went on reading.

Conan grinned as he read the name.

"Long time no see... Rei."

* * *

On with number 3!

Read and Review!


	4. Rei

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER:I do not own Detective Conan .

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

_**Chapter 3**_

_Rei_

Conan opened the envelope and started to read the letter with a smile on his face.

_Dear Shinichi,_

_How are you? It's been a while since we've heard each other. Sorry, but I've been really busy here with classes and exams and _life _in general._

_By the way, what happened to you? I called down at your house a few times when I had time but you never answered. Are you working on your cases as usual, or have you just turned too lazy to get up and pick the phone? _

_Just joking._

_As I said before, I've been busy with classes and exams. There were moments when I thought that you were right when you said that it was a stupid to do something before time. You know what I mean.. As soon as I moved to the USA, I finished high school and I was just fifteen. Then I started to follow the computer science course at university. It has been tough, but now, I'm proud to tell you that I've finally managed to graduate! I really don't understand why you refused to do this yourself; at this time you'd probably be graduated too! I rem__ember that when I asked you so, y__ou just said that you had a good reason to stay. _

_I think that you didn't want to leave a certain person.. a girl.. maybe called, let's see... Ran Mouri? _

_I can see you blush, you know?_

'How the hell does she know that?' Conan thought, as red stripes coloured his face.

_Well, changing subject, things have improved since we've heard last time._

_The other students have stopped to look at me as though I was some sort of alien and they don't treat me as a younger kid anymore. By the way, I've met another Japanese student of our age: it's a boy that studies engineering here in New York. Guess what? He's another "Holmes freak". I'm beginning to think that there must be some strange magnetism that attracts those who love Holmes stories: I've met him the same way I met you. You two have many things in common and I'm sure that you'd get along very well with him. _

_Anyway, Shinichi, now that I'm through my studies, I'm going to try to enter FBI. _

_It's the only way I have to investigate and discover some details about my parents' accident. Don't worry, I won't do anything rash: I'll be careful. Your words still support me. _

_No matter what, truth is always there. You just have to find it._

_You encouraged me and I.. well... I really don't know how to thank you. And your parents, too. Yukiko-san calls me very often: it's so sweet of her. She makes me feel cared with her motherly ways. As though I had a mother again._

_Ok, I must leave you now. Listen, get in touch soon. I don't know how: mail, phone, or whatever. I'll be waiting to get your news, all right?_

_Hope to see or hear you soon! __Bye, little brother!_

_Love,_

_Rei._

Conan was still smiling when he finished to read. His mood had positively improved, too. He got up and, carefully, put the letter in his jacket pocket. He looked at the envelope and saw that it had been posted nearly 8 months ago.

'Damn it!' he thought, 'I've got to contact her immediately and apologize!'

He then noticed that Ai had been watching him the whole time.

"Is there something wrong, Haibara?" he asked.

"No. I think I underestimated you, Kudo." she replied, turning back to the magazine.

"Huh?" he asked with confusion "Why?"

"I thought you only had eyes for Mouri-san, but I'm surprised to see that I was wrong." she replied, without looking him.

"Ran? What are you talki.. ?" he stopped half way through his sentence because he understood what she meant. "Wait a second.. you thought that I.. with her... cheating Ran..." He was stammering and blushing furiously. "No, you.. you misunderstood!"

Ai looked back at him and seeing his face, she stifled a laugh.

'Nobody would believe he's the famous Shinichi Kudo if they saw him now.' she thought, 'The cool and efficient detective who never failed a case.. yet one who is completely clueless when it comes to girls and feelings...'

After her sister's death, life had lost all it's meaning and she had taken her own poison. She had nothing to loose. Unfortunately, life had refused to give up on her. Destiny had sent her to him. The one who could have saved Akemi.

She remembered breaking down before him. He had said nothing but only held her gently as her tears wet his shirt. In his eyes, she had seen his guilt and witnessed his painful recollection. It was not his fault. Their initial hostility had slowly melted away: she didn't blame him and he didn't blame her for having made APTX-4869 that had shrunk both. (A.N: I took this bit from Pyrokid's "Haibara disappears".)

They were friends, even though neither would admit it. Her life had changed thanks to him, but she knew that everything would have ended the moment she finished the antidote. He would go back to his life.. back to Mouri, while she.. where would she go? How could she live without him?

Ai shook her head slightly: she did not want to think about it, yet. She had promised him to make the antidote. She only had to think about that now.

_"You're going to protect me, right?_

_"Yes."_

His promise came back to her mind.

"Don't run away, Ai." he had said after the bus-jack, "Don't look away from your destiny."

Shortly after, he made her that promise with his caring and calm tone...

"Haibara, how did you know that it was a girl?"

"Huh?"

Ai snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Conan, who had stopped stammering the moment he noticed that she was not paying attention to what he was saying.

"Come again?"

"How did you know that the sender of the letter is a girl?" he repeated with a suspicious look.

She noticed the look.

"The handwriting." she replied shortly, her gaze averting back to the magazine.

"Huh?"

"I saw the writing on the envelope and guessed it was a girl." Ai looked at him. "Why? Did you think I read the letter, violating your privacy?"

"No." he lied, blushing slightly. She snickered.

"By the way.." Conan said to get out of awkward situation, "She's not my girl friend."

"Who is she, then?" Ai asked.

Conan looked at the girl next to him, wondering if he should answer.

"Do you really want to know?" he finally asked.

This took Ai by surprise. She didn't expect that he would have actually given her an answer but she had to admit that she was curious to know who this girl was. She had noticed the way he smiled when he was reading the letter: it was a tender smile that she had never seen on his face.

She closed the magazine.

"If you want to." she said, looking at him

"Ok.. well, her name's Rei... Reila.. Ikeda and she's seventeen. We met 3 years ago when she moved from Europe to Teitan High..

* * *

All right, this is chapter 3. I hope you liked it! In the next chapter, I'll make Rei's official introduction.

Please, review!

Bye!


	5. It can't be true

Four points of the same star

A.N: Another few corrections here and there...

DISCLAIMER:I do not own Detective Conan .

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

_**Chapter 4**_

_It can't be true.._

-:-

_Fourteen year old Shinichi was at his desk, looking out the window and absently listening to Ran and Sonoko's chatting. The bell had just rung and the class was waiting Mr Sawada's arrival in silence. All but Sonoko who was talking loudly as usual._

_"I heard that a new student's coming here, today. I think that it will be a boy." she said. "A cute boy. I'm sure."_

_"How can you be so sure?" he asked, "Could be a girl for all we know."_

_"Instinct, Kudo. Women's instinct. I'm sure that the new one is a boy." she replied, making him shake his head in disbelief while Ran laughed._

_The door opened and as the teacher entered, everyone scrambled back to his desk and the class went silent._

_"Class, a new student has just moved here from Europe and will join us for the following term." He turned to the door, "You can come in now."_

_As the new one entered the room, Sonoko let out a disappointed "Oh, no!", while many boys dropped their mouths open._

_The new student was a girl. A very pretty girl with slim figure, dark brown hair that reached her shoulder blades and dark cobalt-blue eyes._

_"Hello, my name is Reila Ikeda." she said. _

_She had a pleasant and friendly tone but he noticed a faint trace of sadness behind her voice and also a glint of sorrow in her eyes._

_'She seems very friendly and she's pretty, too, but there's something strange in her.' he thought._

_There was a general murmur in the class, now. Ikeda had made a good impression. Mr. Sawada coughed a few times to get silence._

_"All right now." he said looking around the room for a seat and noticed the empty desk at Shinichi's right. "There's a place down there: you can take that seat, Ikeda"_

_She nodded and walked to her desk, ignoring whispers and soft whistles. As she sat down, she felt Shinichi's stare: she turned and when their eyes met, Reila smiled making him blush slightly._

_Ran, who was a few seats in front with Sonoko, saw this and turned away; Sonoko, seeing her friend's face shot Ikeda an angry look while all the boys of the class gave him death glares._

_Noticing this, he gulped._

_'Oh, god..'_

_-:-_

_Mr. Sawada was a good teacher: his lessons were always clear and well done and he expected the same from students. He helped them if they needed aid, spending a few lessons to discuss topics they couldn't have understood and explained them again. Today was one of those days._

_"Class, I have noticed that many of you have not understood how to discuss and write a review of an article adding personal opinions. So I thought we could do it together today." he said, passing out some papers, "I've made some photocopies of an old article I found in scientific-cultural magazine: you must read it now and then we'll discuss it together."_

_He looked down at the paper and smiled slightly. He had already read the article weeks ago. The title was 'A model of logical mind and method of reasoning: Sherlock Holmes, the great detective.' He heard a few groans; the other students probably didn't like the subject. He quickly read the paper and waited. He looked at Ran and saw that she was still busy and then glanced at Ikeda and saw that she had already finished, too._

_As he turned away, he failed to notice Reila look up and glance at him with a thoughtful look._

_"Everybody read it?" Mr. Sawada asked, "Not yet? Well, someone that has already finished can begin and the others can join in afterwards, all right? So, who wants to start?" _

_A hand shot up. _

_"Kobayashi? Ok. I suppose that all of you are able to make a summary of the main topics of a passage, so I'd skip that. Just tell us your personal impressions of what you read." _

_Kobayashi was a boy that wore glasses and sat right in the front desk. He was not a such a bad fellow but he always thought that he was right._

_"Yes, sir." he said, standing up, "The article is well written but I think that the ideas it explains are only theoretic and not practicable." _

_"What do you mean?" the teacher asked._

_"Well, Holmes says that observing a person's clothes, the way he walks and other marginal details, could allow him to identify his job and his way of living. I'm sure that it's impossible."_

_"All right, that's your opinion. Now, who agrees with him?" Mr. Sawada asked the class, "Raise your hand if you think that Kobayashi is right."_

_Many people raised their hand and a lot that didn't had a doubtful look on the face._

_"Anyone wants to retort Kobayashi's statements?" Sawada asked, with a smile. "Come on, that's the only way to have a discussion, so don't be shy." _

_He raised his hand. _

_"Kudo? All right, what do you think?"_

_He got up and began to speak._

_"I don't agree with Kobayashi. The ideas explained in the article are not theoretic but very practicable. In __**A study in scarlet **__Holmes sta__tes__ that an ideal detective must have three necessary qualities: spirit of observation, ability in deductions and, of course, a good general knowledge. He also says that while the second is extremely precious for his work, the spirit of observation is like a second nature for him and I agree with him. If you start observing the people around, you will surely manage to discover their habits and even foretell their actions. It's an exact science."_

_Kobayashi, that was still standing up, interrupted him._

_"Your words are theoretic as the article, Kudo." he shot back, "I am sure that what you said is not possible. Defining it a science, moreover, is a great exaggeration: I would call it guessing since you can't be sure at hundred percent."_

_He was about to retort when someone else did it before him._

_"No, you're wrong."_

_Everyone turned around to see who spoke and he was surprised to see that it had been Ikeda._

_She got up and turned to Mr. Sawada _

_"Can I join the discussion?" she asked._

_The teacher nodded and she began to talk, addressing herself to Kobayashi._

_"I agree with Kudo. Investigation is a science and it requires the three qualities that he has listed before; the spirit of observation, in particular. You can't define it just "guessing" because it's not true. In __**The Sign of the Four**__ Holmes says he never tries to guess because it's a deplorable habit, harmful for logical faculties. And I agree. It's true, you can't make an attempt. You have to be sure of what you're saying."_

_"All right, but you must make some suppositions before! It's impossible to get it right immediately. First, you make a guess and then you start observing the subject." Kobayashi retorted._

_"The worst mistake is to make suppositions before having all the clues. It distorts your judgement." he stated and heard Ikeda say the same with him._

_Kobayashi was caught of his guard: he didn't expect such confidence by them but soon recovered. "Well, if you're so sure, why don't you prove it?" he asked. He was so sure that neither would have found a way to do what they asserted that his eyes widened when Ikeda and Shinichi nodded in unison. Rei turned to Mr. Sawada._

_"Sir, can we use you as the subject of observation?" she asked._

_"Me? Well, why not?" he said with a slightly amused face. "I must say that this discussion has become very interesting."_

_Reila's stare was fixed on the teacher and after a few moments of silence, she began to speak._

_"Well, sir, you're tall 1 metre 75, your weight is between 80-85 kg, you don't smoke or drink alcoholics, you used to play baseball as a pitcher in your school days, you're not married or engaged, you live alone with a cat as a pet. A Persian cat, to be exact."_

_She stopped as she noticed the amazed looks on her class mates and Mr. Sawada's face. He was impressed as everyone else._

_'Wow, she's really good.' he thought, 'I could not have done better.'_

_Mr. Sawada was the first one to get his words back._

_"I'm very impressed, Ikeda. You said only true things, although I really can't understand how you did." he said, "Why don't you explain?"_

_He was still staring at her when Ikeda turned to look at him. She nodded her head slightly and he understood, straightaway._

_"I can explain it, sir." he said, smiling to her before turning to his teacher." Height and weight are easy to measure. You don't smoke or drink since your health is good. We noticed it when you coughed before and since your teeth are in perfect condition, we knew that you don't smoke. you've got calluses on your hands, especially on the right one and you have the habit to curve your index and middle fingers, so we thought you must have played baseball, probably as a pitcher. You don't have a ring on your left hand, so you're not married; your shirt's collar is not ironed well and your sleeve's button is loose, so you are not engaged. It also means that you live alone and that there isn't somebody that takes care of you. There is some white fur on your trousers, so you must have an animal. A cat since there is a scratch on your hand. Persian because the hair's thin and long."_

_The class had gone quiet: everyone was amazed by Kudo and Ikeda's ability. Kobayashi slumped back in his seat for he could not say anything else after their performance. Ran was stunned by Shinichi's skills and was proud of him too but, at the same time, she felt uneasy. She had noticed the way he smiled to Reila and how they seemed to understand each other, without words._

_The bell rang and brought everyone back to senses._

_"Well, class, the lesson has been quite interesting and I think that you all have some ideas now so, don't forget to do your reviews." Mr. Sawada said, "Goodbye, see you next Thursday."_

_As soon as he left, he went to Reila's desk._

_"Ehm.. excuse me, Ikeda-san?"_

_She looked up._

_"Yes?" she asked._

_"I just wanted to introduce myself." he replied, holding out his hand, "Shinichi Kudo, pleased to meet you."_

_"Oh.. Reila Ikeda, pleased to meet you, too." She stared at him and a flash of recognition crossed her eyes. "Listen, are you Yusaku and Yukiko Kudo's son?"_

_"Yes, I am." he said, a bit surprised, "Have we met before?"_

_"So, it's you!" she said smiling, "We've met a few years ago. I think it was at a party for your father's latest novel. I remember your parents very well and you were there, too." She smirked. "With a very annoyed face."_

_"Wait a minute.. I think I remember something... but.. Listen, can I ask you a thing?"_

_"Sure."_

_"How were you so sure that I would have explained what you said?"_

_She looked at him._

_"Well, to tell the truth, I don't know." she said, "I just felt that you understood everything and could have explained the deductions clearly."_

_He smiled._

_"I see... You read Sherlock Holmes too, don't you?"_

_"Yes, I've always loved his novels. Ah, by the way, Kudo-san.."_

_"Huh?"_

_"Holmes talked about the three qualities for an ideal detective in __**The Sign of the Four**__ not in the __**A Study in Scarlet**_

_He sweat dropped while Reila laughed slightly._

-:-

"She's a "Sherlock Holmes freak" like you? Ai asked as though being one was one of the deadly sins. Fortunately, Conan didn't notice the sarcastic hint in her tone since he was too engrossed in his thoughts.

"Yeah.. but she isn't just that. We have many things in common. You know, investigations, mysteries and so on. We became friends immediately."

"So.. she's a female version of yourself. Wasn't one detective Kudo enough?" Ai wondered sarcastically. Conan made a face at her, but continued talking.

"When I went home, I told my parents about her on the phone and, well, they revealed me a few things about her." His face became serious."Her parents had died two years before in a car crash. The police has registered the case as an accident caused by a mistake of the driver even though there were some clues that made them think of an intentional event. Fearing for her personal security, her father's partner who became her guardian sent her to Europe. But she was not sure of the investigation's results at all. She told me that her father would never drive dangerously, risking his or, especially, her mother's life. So, she decided to find out herself."

"What do you mean?"

"She came back to Japan only to stay for a few months: her plan was to go to America and finish her studies as quickly as possible. Then, she would have started investigating on her own."

"She's a very self-confident girl." Ai remarked.

"No, you're wrong." Conan replied, making her turn her head in surprise. "Don't misunderstand: she's very resolute, but there are times when she loses confidence in her abilities. I think that she wants to find the truth but, at the same time, she's afraid to discover something that will make her suffer even more than she already had. That's why, we decided to help her."

"We?"

"My parents and I. They decided to let her stay at our house in L.A so she did not have to lose time looking for a house but could use it to choose a suitable college. You know, Rei's parents were good friends of my father. I think that they considered her a bit like a surrogate daughter. I didn't do much.. I just gave her confidence and help whenever she asked. It's strange but even though we just met once when we were small and then back at school for a few months, I cared for a very much. She was different from the other girls.. even from Ran."

"Did you fall in love with her, Kudo?" Ai asked.

He looked at her with such a tender smile, that heat rose on her face. She quickly turned away. "Sorry, I didn't want to.." she said softly but he stopped her.

"No, don't worry. I didn't love her in any romantic way. She means a lot to me and she's a close friend but there isn't anything more.. she's like a sister. Professor once said that we seemed like brother and sister for the way we behaved and I think he was right. I could talk to her about everything and I could confide her my problems and feelings naturally. And she did the same with me. It's a bit like the way I talk with you." he said without thinking. Conan paused before his last few words sank in and, blushing, he turned to Ai who was slightly pink, too.

"Ehm.. Haibara.. I didn't.." he started to say but the bell rang and Ai got up and heading to the door. She turned her head, shooting him a small smile that made him blush even deeper.

"Come on, Edogawa-kun." she said.

He just followed her.

'Why am I blushing?' he thought.

* * *

"Bye, Conan-kun! See you tomorrow!"

"Bye, guys!"

Conan waved goodbye at the three joyful kids and the silent girl as they split and continued their journey home. He went to the Mouri's house and opened the door.

"I'm back Ran-neechan!" he called

"Hi, Conan-kun." she greeted him, "How did school go?"

"It went very well." he said with a smile.

Ran smiled back slightly surprised. It was maybe the first time that she heard Conan enjoy a school day.

"Good for you." she said, "Listen, dinner will be ready in a minute, so go and wash your hands. Oh, can you call Dad, too?"

"Yes, Ran-neechan!"

-:-

Conan was in his room, lying on the bed. He was going to get ready to go to bed when he remembered his mother's letter.

'I'd better read it or Mom will give me a earful for making her worry.' he thought, a bit annoyed. He stretched his hand and took the letter from the jacket laid on the chair. He carelessly opened the envelope and unfolded the paper, sure that it would be full of his mother's recommendations.

'Let's see what she says... Huh? Dad? What does he want? He never writes... unless.. unless something has happened. Something serious.'

He got up and his heartbeats started to accelerate as he read the first line.

_"Dear son, I have bad news.."_

Conan's eyes widened in shock as he read the rest.

"No, it's impossible! There.. there must be a mistake.. he's wrong.." he muttered under his breath. Just then, he noticed a newspaper cutting inside the envelope. He, slowly unfolded it and his mind went blank, when he read the title.

"It's impossible... It can't be true..."

* * *

And this chapter's up, too! On with the next.

READ AND REVIEW!


	6. Despair and a sudden hope

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER:I do not own Detective Conan .

A:N: Corrections and changes have been made.

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

_**Chapter 5**_

_Despair and a sudden hope._

Prof. Agase and Ai had just finished to have dinner when the phone started to ring madly.

"Now, who can that be?" the old scientist wondered loudly, standing up. He turned around to the girl. "Ai-kun, do you expect a call?"

"No, Agase." she replied.

"Well, let's see who it is, then." He walked to the table and picked up the phone receiver. "Hello, who..? Oh, Shinichi-kun!"

Ai looked up in alarm.

'Why does Kudo call at this time?' she thought.

"Do you need someth.. _what?_ Here?_ Now?_ No, it's not a problem but why..?" Agase's face changed from confusion to anxiety. "Calm down now and tell me wha... Later? All right. Yes, I'll tell her something if she calls. See you later. Bye."

He put the phone down and looked at Ai that had come close to him.

"Shinichi-kun's coming. He said he'll stay here for a few days. Don't ask me the reason because he didn't tell me anything." he said. "He was very upset, Ai-kun. I never heard him in this state. By the way, I must call the Mouris and invent something to justify Conan's sudden departure."

While Professor was on the phone, Ai began to feel uneasy: she couldn't figure out what might have upset Kudo so much.

'He was in a very good mood, when we separated. So, what...? A problem with Mouri? No... He could have met one of _them_ on the way home!' she thought, getting nervous. 'No, he would have come here immediately.. Then, what?'

* * *

"Oh, all right Professor. Yes, he left a few minutes ago. No, he said it was not necessary. Yes, I understand: if you need his help.. No, it's only been a sudden thing. Ok, bye then."

Ran put down the phone, frowning slightly.

Conan had been in a good mood all the time, then suddenly, something changed. He came out of his room with a pale face and said that Agase had asked him to come down at his house for a few days to help him test some inventions. He quickly packed up and left, refusing to let her take him there.

'He's so strange sometimes. He seems so much like... Shinichi.. ' she thought. She shook her head. 'I'm worrying too much. He'll be fine.'

-:-

Conan was running to Agase's house at full speed. There was no time to waste.

He wanted to know exactly what had happened. He wanted details.

He wanted the truth.

* * *

"There goes the door bell" Professor said, getting up to open the door, "It must be him."

Ai followed him, anxiety building inside her.

"Shinichi-kun! Can you, finally explain what's goin..?" he started to say, but the boy's state made him stop. Conan was panting heavily because of the race and his face was completely screwed in an expression of anxiety and concern. Both Agase and Ai were too stunned to speak or ask him anything, so they just waited wondering what could have shattered the usually calm and composed detective's façade.

Conan took a deep breath and finally spoke, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Professor, can I make a phone call?" he asked, "I couldn't do it down at Ran's house."

The scientist just nodded, letting him pass but Ai didn't move and blocked his way.

"What's going on, Kudo?" she asked when their eyes met.

He didn't give her an answer but just put a hand in his pocket and pulled out his parents' letter. He gave it to her and walked on.

She unfolded the letter and started to read and Agase approached her with curiosity.

_Dear son,_

_I have bad news. It's about Rei. _

_Nearly a week ago, I read this article on the newspaper: it talks about the death of a young girl near New York. I didn't give it a lot of importance until I read that she was Asian, probably Japanese, and that she had a badge. _

_An FBI badge. _

_The authorities suspect that she might be a young agent that has disappeared, recently. Your mother started to panic but I didn't want to do to hurried conclusions, so I called my friend that works for FBI to get some details. He didn't know much and just told me things I already knew. Your mother has tried to call her but nobody answered at her house. We decided to go there ourselves, but we didn't find her in her apartment in New York or anywhere else._

_She seems to have vanished but all her things are still there._

_I don't know when you'll receive this letter but call us as soon as you read it. I'll try to find out as much as I can and I hope that all our suppositions are wrong and that Rei's safe and sound._

_I will be waiting your call, Shinichi._

_ Dad  
_

The two scientists didn't say a word.

Ai noticed the newspaper cut, opened it and read it quickly but it didn't say anything that wasn't already explained in the letter. Agase was shocked. He knew Reila and was fond of her in the same way he was fond of Shinichi and he also knew about the special brother-like relationship that the two had.

"No wonder he's so upset." he said softly, "If something has happened to Rei-kun, he.."

Ai nodded slightly: she remembered how Kudo had talked about her.

"Let's see if he's find out something." she said and they both went to the phone table.

-:-

Conan picked up the phone and quickly dialled his parents' number. His heart was racing.

'Please, Rei, be fine.' he thought while the phone was ringing. 'Please..'

His mental prayer was stopped when he heard his father's calm voice answer on the other side.

"Hello, Dad? Yes, it's me. I've read it just today. So, have you found out anything?" There was a pause and Conan's face became pale.

"I see... but it's not sure, isn't it?" he asked desperately, "I mean... what? She's here? Why? Oh, I understand. No, she didn't contact me. Yes, I'll go and see her. All right." He paused again and then quickly added, "Dad, if you find out something.. anything... call me on my mobile phone or at Agase's house. You've got the number, right? Ok, hear you soon. Bye."

Conan hung up and turned around to find Agase and Haibara behind him.

"Shinichi-kun, have they found out something about Rei-kun?" Professor asked.

The boy shook his head.

"No, nothing...yet" he replied shortly. Then he walked to the door and stopped in front of it. After a few seconds of still silence, he turned around to look at the two scientists.

"Do you want to come next door?" he asked.

"At your house?" Agase asked, confusion clear on his face. "Why?"

"My mother's here. She didn't stand the tension down in the States. You know, waiting without doing anything, so Dad told her to go away for a few days. I think she'll be expecting our visit."

"Well, all right. I can imagine how Yukiko must feel now. And you, Ai-kun?" he turned to the girl who just nodded. "Let's go then, Shinichi-kun."

The three left and headed to the Kudo's house. The lights upstairs were on and the front gate had not been closed well. Conan didn't notice theses details before: he had other things in his mind. He pulled out his keys and opened the door. Once inside, he switched on the lights.

"Mom, come down!" he called, "It's me!"

"Shin-chan, is that you?" replied a voice from upstairs and shortly after, Yukiko Kudo came down.

Her usually giggly smiling face was gone, and you could see worry and fear in her face. She forced a small smile of greeting.

"It's been a long time, Hiroshi-san. How are you?" she asked Agase.

"I'm fine, Yukiko. I would have wished to meet you in a better moment than this but..." he stopped, not knowing what to say, and giving her an apologetic look.

"Don't worry." she said, shaking her head.

Then, she looked at Ai. It was their second meeting but the previous time due to the fact that the three Detective Boys were present, there hadn't been an official introduction.

Yukiko knew everything about her and her past for Shinichi had told her. Hadn't he done so, she couldn't have believed that the little girl in front of her was actually the one that had made the poison that had shrunk her son.

'But she didn't do it intentionally.' she thought, 'She had been forced to do it by the men of that organisation. The same men that killed her parents, her sister and that want to kill her, too. I can't blame her: it's not her fault. She's suffered enough.'

"You are Ai Haibara, right?" she said gently, holding out her hand, "I am Yukiko Kudo, pleased to meet you."

Ai was taken aback. She had expected an opposite reaction, not such kindness.

"Pleased to meet you again, Kudo-san." she said, shaking her hand.

Yukiko now turned to her son. Conan looked up at her.

"Mom? How are you feeling?" he asked with mild concern, "Dad was worried: he said that you didn't even call him to say you've arriv.."

He couldn't manage to continue: his mother flung her arms around him and started to cry softly. Conan was shocked by his mother's sudden outburst: he had never seen her cry and this showed how much she cared for Rei.

"Mom.. calm down.. please, calm down." he started to say, hoping that his tone was encouraging and not doubtful as he heard it, "Everything will go well. She'll be fine: it's probably all a mistake." He looked up at Agase for help.

"He's right, Yukiko. You must not lose your hopes: I am sure Rei-kun is safe and sound." he said patting her shoulder and giving her a warm smile.

The woman got up, wiping her tears away with her hand.

"I'm sorry, but it seems such an absurdity that she might have killed herself." she said softly, "I mean.. we're talking about Rei! The last I heard she was fine.. well quite fine."

Conan looked at her.

"What do you mean with quite fine?" he asked sharply.

"Well, Shin-chan, I called her just a month ago and she was a bit.. worried. She kept on saying that she was just tired whenever I asked her what was wrong. You know, she entered FBI nearly five months ago and she was always busy. She told me that she was working on a difficult case with a few colleagues of hers and.." Yukiko paused, tears filling her eyes again. "She told not to worry and that she was fine."

Yukiko broke down again while Agase tried to console her. Ai, on the other hand was struck by her last statement. They were the same words Akemi had told her at their last meeting.

"Yukiko, please calm down." Agase said soothingly, "Come on, I'll get you a cup of tea. It will make feel a bit better."

He lead her to the kitchen.

Ai stayed silent, slowly swallowing her own grief and thinking of the woman's tears.

'That girl is very lucky.' she thought, 'She's so worried about her even though she's not a member of her family. Kudo must feel the same, too.'

She turned around to look at him but didn't see him anywhere.

The boy was not in the living room anymore.

* * *

Conan was in his room.

He hadn't been in there for months but nothing had changed except for the dust that had piled up on the furniture. He walked in, headed to his desk and opened a drawer. He pulled out a small leather photo album, hidden under a stack of notebooks and papers and carefully opened it. He started to flip through the pages till he found what he was looking for.

It was a photo of Rei and him, taken before her leaving to the USA. He stared at it and memories drifted into his mind.

-:-

_"So, you know everything about my parents'?"__ she looked at him evenly, dark eyes fixed on his._

_"I'm sorry." he immediaetly apologized, "I didn't want to poke my nose in your business but you seemed so sad when you came in class the other day that I wondered why and so.. I asked my parents when they called me."_

_"Sad? I thought I had managed to hide my emotions but you've noticed them anyway." Reila smiled slightly, "Great work, detective. I knew that you would have found it out after all: your parents were good friends of my family. Just promise me that you won't say anything to anyone and don't worry about it anymore, Kudo."_

_"Ok, thanks..." He looked at her for a moment. "Can I ask you a favour?"_

_"Sure. What is it?"_

_"Call me Shinichi. Kudo sounds so formal. We know each other since we're little, don't we?"_

_"Oh.. all right." she said, slightly taken aback, "Then, you must call me Rei and not Ikeda, ok?"_

_"Ok."_

-:-

Conan smiled as he remembered what had happened in class a couple of days after this.

-:-

_"Shinichi, can you lend me your history book? I want to see how much I have to catch up."_

_"Sure, no problem Rei."_

_Neither had noticed that the whole class had listened to their short conversation._

_Ran stood in front of him, arms folded and fury in her eyes._

_"Shinichi! You just met her a few days ago and you already call each other with your first names?" she exclaimed. He was going to answer her when all the boys of the room, surrounded his desk._

_"Kudo! EXPLAIN!" the__y said in a deadly voice._

_He sweat dropped. He was trapped: on one side there was Ran and on the other, fifteen angry boys. He looked desperately around to Rei for help but she already had her trouble dealing with Sonoko._

_"IS THERE SOMETHING GOING ON BETWEEN YOU TWO?" she shouted. "That guy's already got a girlfriend, do you understand?" She pointed to Ran as she said this and the gir__l __blushed furiously. "There she is. So, go and find another boy."_

_Rei got up with a very annoyed face._

_"Listen, stop raising hell, ok?" she said calmly, "We two are friends: just good friends. So, what's the problem?"_

_After this, she walked to his desk and gave him the book._

_"Thank you, SHINICHI." she said, smiling._

_"No problem, REI." he said smiling back._

-:-

Conan smiled with sadness as the memories filled his mind.

Rei had stayed in Japan only for six months but she had become very important for him. Their friendship was special. She was special. If something had really happened to her...

"'Neechan, you're fine, right?" he asked softly, looking at the photo again.

They used to spend so much time together that people began to think they were a couple. They always said that they were just friends but many didn't believe them. Ran, in first place.

He remembered all the times that he had to give her explanations.

"Ran, what's wrong if I go out with a friend? If a boy and a girl go out together it doesn't mean that they're lovers, do you understand?"

Only Agase and his parents knew how deep their relationship was: it was something beyond friendship. Love, a brotherly love. They were the only ones that didn't look surprised when he called Rei 'Neechan or little sister and when she called him Niichan or little brother.

Conan sighed: he couldn't bare the thought of loosing her... or that he'd already lost her. He recalled his father's words on the phone: the words that he didn't dare to say to his mother, fearing that she could worry more.

Suddenly, he felt someone staring him. He turned around and saw Haibara, standing by the door.

"How long have you been there?" he asked.

"A while." she replied calmly. "I just wondered where you could have gone."

Conan continued to look at her: her expression was emotionless as usual but he noticed a strange glint in her eyes. A mixture of sorrow and understanding. Was she feeling compassion for him?

'I told her how much I care for Rei.' he thought, 'She knows that she's like a sister for me.' Then, it hit him. 'She lost her sister a few months ago. The same person I failed to save. She probably understands how I'm feeling more than anyone else.'

He felt tears filling his eyes but forced them back in.

'I can't start crying! I promised to protect her. I don't want her to see me so weak...' He turned his back to Ai and opened his drawer putting the album back in its place and, in the meantime, gave himself time to calm down.

"You don't have to lie to yourself, Kudo."

Conan looked at her with surprise. She seemed to have read his mind. Ai approached to him and laid her hand on his shoulder.

"You don't have to act: it's a difficult moment for you." she said softly, "I understand it."

'How can she know what I'm thinking?' he thought. He glanced at her.

"I'm sorry, Haibara." he muttered.

She looked surprised now.

"What for?" she asked.

"For not having saved your sister. I've never really apologized, did I? And now, I think I understand how you felt.. loosing someone you loved."

Ai's expression softened.

"You don't have to blame yourself: you did what you could, Kudo." she said. Feeling uncomfortable, she decided to change subject. "What did your father say?"

Conan looked at her straight in the eyes.

"Don't tell anyone." he said and she nodded.

"The police says that the body's unrecognisable. R... The.. victim.." He paused for a moment and swallowed uneasily. He was saying Rei. "The victim set her car on fire and locked herself inside. There was not much left: everything had been burned up, but the police found some paper fragments. They were the rests of a passport, a foreign passport. And they also found a chain inside the victim's jacket pocket: a chain with a golden crucifix."

Ai noticed the look on his face as he said this last detail.

"What's so special about the chain?" she asked, "There could be thousands like that."

"There was an engraving on the back of the cross, written in Japanese. Two words: Hope and Trust." He looked at her with despair. "Rei had a chain like that and she always put it on. It was one of her mother's gift."

Conan fell silent and Ai just looked at him.

"He didn't tell anybody. He kept it hidden inside him all this time.' she thought, 'He didn't want to worry his mother or Agase.. We're both alike in this: we prefer to suffer alone.'

Then she did something that surprised herself as much as Conan.

She gave him a comforting hug, without saying a word. He was slightly shocked at the beginning but then relaxed, appreciating her silent solidarity. They stayed like this for a couple of moments before breaking the embrace.

Conan smiled slightly as he looked at her.

"Thanks, Haibara." he said.

She gave him a small smile and walked to the door. He followed her downstairs shortly after.

* * *

A week had passed but nothing had improved in the meantime.

There were no new details on the sucide case besides the growing certainty that the victim was really Reila Ikeda.

Shinichi's mother was leaving: she had decided to stay close to her husband and help him to find out the truth. Conan had managed to stay down at Agase's place for the entire week but now he had to go back to the Mouris or Ran would have become suspicious. He had also been forced to go to school. The others probably thought that he would have pobably gone mad if he had just stayed in the house, torturing his mind.

Yukiko was in front of her house, holding a handbag and pushing a small trolley. She had called a taxi to take her to the airport and was waiting with Agase, the only one that was there to tell her goodbye her: Conan and Ai were still at school.

"I hope to meet you soon, Yukiko and during a better occasion." he said, "And don't worry: I'm sure everything will end well."

"I hope you're right, Hiroshi-san. I don't even want to think tha.." she froze half way her statement and just looked past the man.

"Yukiko? Are you all right?" the man asked anxiously but she didn't answer. She just pointed, her hand trembling, to her house's entrance. Agase turned and looked in that direction.

Someone was walking towards them. Slowly, very slowly as though he or she was walking absentmindedly without realising where he or she was walking.

He couldn't understand if it was a boy or a girl because a cap hid the face but Yukiko seemed to know who it was. She walked towards the stranger, alowly at first and then faster. She suddenly hugged the figure. The cap fell to the ground and Agase saw that it was a girl. The man's jaw dropped to the ground.

She had recognized both of them and her eyes were full of shock. She slowly hugged Yukiko back.

"I'm sorry." she whispered.

* * *

"Haibara-san, what's wrong with Conan-kun?"

"Yes, Ai-chan, what happened to him?"

The Detective Boys were going home. Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko were worried because Conan had been strange the whole week: he was absentminded in class, he didn't pay attention to their discussions and, most important of all, he didn't even want to play soccer!

Ai glanced at the boy that was walking next to her.

"I don't know." she lied, "He's probably tired."

Suddenly, a phone ring tone broke the silence but nobody seemed to answer.

"Ehm.. Conan-kun, I think it's yours." Ayumi said timidly after the nth ring.

"Huh?" he mumbled, waking up from his daze. He pulled out his earring phone and answered dully. "Hello? Agase? We're coming, don't worr.. _WHAT?_" he shouted.

The kids jumped a mile and Ai looked at him wondering what else had happened now.

"When? Ok.. I'll be there right away." he put his phone back in his pocket and started to run.

The others didn't realize what had happened immediately. Then, they started to run after him.

"Hey, wait Conan-kun!" the three kids yelled. Ai ran after him, too: she was curious to know what was going on.

Conan was running as fast as he could, heart pounding in his chest with only one thought in his mind.

'_She's there!'_

* * *

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Bye!


	7. The secret investigation

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER:I do not own Detective Conan .

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

_**Chapter 6**_

_The secret investigation_

Conan was running madly to Agase's house, followed by Haibara and the other kids.

"Didn't you say that he was tired?" Mitsuhiko asked Ai with bewilderment as they were running behind the bespectacled boy.

"He must have recovered." she answered simply but was secretly concerned.

'What has happened now?' she wondered, 'What did Agase tell him to make him stir from his state? I hope it isn't anything serious...'

They were getting closer to the scientist's house. Conan felt his heart pounding hard in his chest: a bit for the race but, above all, for his nervousness. He reached the front door and was reaching for the knob when something clicked in his head, making him freeze.

"Conan-kun, what are you doing?" Ayumi asked with confusion, "You've rushed here and now, you don't want to go in?"

"Yeah, why don't you ring the bell?" Genta asked, panting.

Conan didn't answer: he was not listening to them.

'I'm not myself now..' he thought, 'She won't recognize me! And I can't tell her what happened or she'll be in danger, too.'

Suddenly, the front door opened and Agase came out.

"Oh, welcome." he said, letting them in, "We've been waiting you."

'_We?_' Ai thought, 'Didn't Kudo-san leave this morning?'

They walked inside and noticed that there was a girl in the living room. She was wearing blue jeans, a white shirt, a dark denim jacket, dark trainers and a baseball cap. She got up as they entered the room. Conan froze on the spot, his eyes fixed on her while she looked at him with astonishment and tenderness, her blue cobalt eyes overjoyed.

Ai watched the scene and, then, she understood.

'Could she be...?' she thought.

The girl walked towards them. She knelt down and hugged Conan.

"I'm sorry." she whispered in a choked voice, "It's good to see you, little brother."

He was stunned: how did she recognize him? Had Agase already told her everything?

"Rei..?" he managed to mumble and she nodded.

They stayed like this for a while before pulling out of the embrace. Then, Rei looked at the other kids that had stayed quiet the whole time. She took of her cap, letting her shoulder length, dark brown hair to tumble back down. She smiled at them.

"Hello, my name's Rei." she said, "I am Conan's... cousin. I have arrived today. You must be his class mates, right?"

Her manners were so friendly and gentle that the kids promptly answered.

"Yes, we are. I am Ayumi."

"I am Genta."

"I am Mitsuhiko."

"Pleased to meet you, Rei-neechan!" they said together.

"Pleased to meet you, too." she replied and turned to the little red haired girl who was staring at her.

Saying that Ai was stunned was an understatement.

Rei looked a lot like Akemi: she seemed to be her younger version. The little girl jumped when the older girl knelt down in front of her, holding out her hand.

"Hello, pleased to meet you." she said, "I am Rei."

Ai shook her hand.

"I am Ai Haibara." she replied, "Pleased to meet you, Rei-san."

"Conan-kun, so that's why you ran away?" Ayumi asked him, "You wanted to see your cousin."

Conan managed to snap out of the astonishment of finding Rei there.

"Yes, I wanted to see her since we haven't met for a long time." he quickly replied.

The kids were already going to make other questions when Agase pitched in.

"It's getting late." he said, "Don't you think that your parents will worry if they don't see you coming home?"

"You're right, Professor." Mitsuhiko said, "It's a while since we left school."

"And I'm getting hungry, too." Genta added.

"Ok let's go, then." Ayumi said. "Bye Professor! Bye Rei-neechan!"

"See you at school, Conan-kun! Bye Haibara-san!"

"See you tomorrow, Ai-chan!"

Agase lead them to the door and as soon as the kids left, Conan turned to Rei.

"Well..?" he asked, expecting an explanation.

She looked at him without saying a word.

Agase helped her out.

"Shinichi-kun, I think that you should go home, too." he remarked, approaching him, "You told the Mouris that you would come back today: Ran will worry. You can speak to Rei-kun tomorrow."

"What? No way! I want to know wha.." he argued but Rei stopped him.

"Shinichi, I'll tell you everything but, please, not today." she said looking him straight in the eyes. "Agase offered me to stay here for tonight, so don't worry: I won't go anywhere."

Conan could only nod in agreement: there was a strange glint in Rei's eyes and he knew that arguing would have been pointless. But there was one thing he wanted to know immediately.

"Ok, but just tell me this. How did you recognize me?"

"I met Yukiko-san before and she briefly told me what has happened." Rei smiled slightly, "But I would have recognized anyway: you don't have a child's look. Well, see you tomorrow. Bye, Shinichi." And with this, she went upstairs.

Conan was a bit surprised: it wasn't in Rei's character to be so cold. He turned to Agase with a quizzical look but the old scientist just shrugged.

"Don't ask me anything, Shinichi-kun because I don't know. Rei-kun didn't say a word about what's happened, except a few things she said to Yukiko."

"She talked with Mom?"

"Yes, she was waiting for the taxi when she recognized Rei-kun, walking to your house. I don't know what they spoke about because the taxi had come and I had to tell the driver to wait a bit. I just noticed that Rei gave Yukiko a piece of paper."

"A piece of paper?"

"Yes, but I don't know what was written on it. The only thing I noticed is that Rei-kun looks tired and worried."

Conan thought about this and sighed.

"Well, I suppose she'll answer all our questions tomorrow." he stated, "All right, I've got to go now. See you tomorrow morning then, Professor, Haibara." He nodded to both and walked away.

As Ai walked upstairs, Agase waited by the kitchen's door.

"I've got to get dinner ready" he said, smiling slightly, "I've got _two_ young guests now."

* * *

Ran was really happy.

Conan was coming back after a week passed at Agase's house. She really missed the little boy who seemed to understand her better than anyone else and that always tried to comfort her when she was in low spirits because of Shinichi. Sometimes, she had the feeling that he felt guilty of seeing her in pain even though it was not his fault at all.

She was still lost in her thoughts when she heard the door open along with a well-known voice.

"I'm back, Ran-neechan!"

"Welcome back, Conan-kun!" she said, smiling widely. "Did you have a good time at Agase's house?"

"Yes, it was not bad." he said. "I helped him out with some new inventions."

"You'll tell me all about it later. Now go and wash your hands. Dinner's ready." she said going in the kitchen. Conan joined her shortly after and his eyes widened with surprise when he saw the table.

"Wow, Ran-neechan, how many good things you've prepared! What are we celebrating?" he asked, turning to the girl.

"Your return home, of course" she replied simply.

Conan blushed.

"For.. me?" he stammered.

"Yes, for you." Ran said and bent down and hugged him tight, making him blush even more."I felt lonely without you, Conan-kun."

"I missed you, too, Ran-neechan." he said softly, even though it was not the truth. During the past week, he had been so worried for Rei that he didn't think of Ran even once. He felt a pang guilt.

'I'm sorry, Ran.' he thought sadly.

Just then, Kogoroh entered the kitchen.

"Ran, is dinner ready? I'm hungry!" he said loudly. He then noticed Conan. "Oh, the brat's back."

Ran frowned at her father and served dinner as soon as they were all at the table.

-:-

It was quite late.

Conan was going to go to sleep. Ran had urged him to tell her all the things he had done during the week. He couldn't tell her about Rei so he had to invent a story. He also told her that he would have spent the next day out with his friends. She would have suspected something if he said that he went to Agase's house again.

'She really missed me.' he thought, changing his clothes, 'I wonder how she'll take it when Conan will go away... well, as soon as the antidote's ready.'

He sighed loudly, realizing that a lot of time would pass before Conan could become Shinichi again.

'Maybe, I can ask Haibara to give me one of those 24-hour effect pills. I could spend a day with Ran: that could cheer her up a bit.' But he quickly put the idea away at the thought of confronting the miniature scientist on this particular subject.

Then his thoughts flew to Rei.

'What's happened to her? She didn't seem herself today. Has she changed so much in three years?' Thousands of other questions came to his mind. He shook his head.

"I'll find out tomorrow." he said and went to bed.

* * *

Agase, Ai and Rei had finished to have dinner.

It had been a silent meal. Professor had tried to start a conversation but the two girls just gave short answers to his questions so he gave up at the end.

They were going to sleep, now. Agase offered to give Rei his bed so that she rest better but she gently refused, saying that a futon would have been enough and that she didn't want to bother him too much.

"Well, all right then. Good night, Ai-kun. Good night, Rei-kun."

"Goodnight, Agase" they replied and he switched the lights off.

-:-

Ai was in her bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

The others were sleeping: she heard their breathing, but she just couldn't.

Rei's resemblance to Akemi recalled many memories to her mind: happy ones like the time she spent with her sister or painful ones like the last day they met and her last statement.

_"Don't worry, I'm fine."_

That very day she had died.

She had tried to take her out of the organisation but Gin killed her.

'They killed her because she wanted to save me. It's all my fault.' she thought bitterly. She turned her head in Rei's direction,

'That girl…..'

Rei got up suddenly, startling her. She was breathless and sweating.

"Damn it... I thought I got rid of this dreams years ago.." she muttered to herself as she her hand wiped away some sweat from her forehead.

'I'm not the only one to have nightmares..' Ai thought, watching her.

Rei took a few deep breaths to calm herself and then, instinctively, turned around feeling a stare on herself. The two girls' eyes met and Rei smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you up." she said softly but Ai just shook her head.

Rei got to her feet silently, not wanting to wake up Agase and glanced at the little girl.

"I'm going down for a glass of water." she whispered, "Do you want to come along? It seems that you're having trouble to fall asleep too."

Ai looked at her and nodded slightly. There was something in that girl that attracted her beyond the simple likeness with her sister. She remembered what Kudo had said about her.

'She didn't believe that her parents had died in an accident and decided to find out the truth herself.' she thought, getting up, 'She wants to know the truth... even if it could make her suffer.'

Rei quietly opened the door and the two slipped outside and went downstairs. They went in the kitchen and Rei took a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. The chilly liquid seemed to soothe her tensed nerves.

Neither talked. They just stayed there, in silence.

Ai looked at the other girl as a sudden thought crossed her mind.

'She doesn't treat me as a seven year old child.' she thought, 'I wonder if Agase or Kudo-san have told her who I am.'

"Ikeda-san, can I ask you a thing?" she asked, deciding to find out.

Rei looked at her, slightly surprised.

"Sure... but how do you know my surname?" she asked.

"Kudo told me a few things about you when he read your letter last week."

"He read it only last week? No wonder I didn't get any reply.. but... what do you want to know?"

"Do you know anything about me?"

"No, not much."

"Not much?"

"You're wondering why I don't treat you like a child, right?" she asked and smiled slightly, seeing Ai's astonishment. "Well, I've noticed that you have Shinichi's same stare. The two of you look like children but your eyes can't lie: there's too much experience and wisdom in your stare to mistake you with a seven year old so I supposed that you were in Shinichi's same condition. And that you're probably my age as well."

"I see."

"Do you want to know anything else?"

"No, nothing."

"Can I ask you a something then?" Ai nodded and looked up at her. "Were they very worried about me last week? I guess you know what I'm talking of..."

"Yes, especially Kudo and his parents."

Rei looked down, pain and guilt flickering in her eyes. Ai noticed this and was tempted to ask her what had happened to her but somehow she knew that she would have not received an answer. At last, Rei looked at her again.

"I see." she remarked, "Well... I think it will be better if we try to get to sleep. What do you think?"

Ai shrugged and walked to the door.

"Haibara?"

Ai turned around to Rei who was still standing by the kitchen table.

"Yes?"

"Thanks for the little chat."

The little girl nodded.

As soon as the two girl were back to their room, they slipped into their beds.

"Goodnight." Rei whispered to Ai with a smile.

Ai gave her a small smile.

"Good night, Ikeda."

* * *

"Shinichi-kun? What are you doing here so early in the morning? Most people would be asleep!"

Agase let the miniature detective in his house with an annoyed expression.

"Well, I want to know what's up with Rei." Conan said, "And by the way, it's not _that_ early, Hakase. It's already seven o'clock."

"Yes, only seven o'clock on Saturday." the scientist replied sarcastically.

"Is Rei up already?"

"Yes, she just had breakfast with Ai-kun."

"With Haibara?"

"Yes. It seems that get on well together."

This surprised Conan. The last thing he had expected was that Rei and Ai would have become friends so quickly.

The two went in the living room and found the girls reading. Ai was on the couch, going through the pages of a fashion magazine while Rei was on the armchair with the morning newspaper. They looked up as the boy entered.

"Good morning, Shinichi." Rei greeted him with a smile and then turned to Ai. "I've told you that he'd be here at the crack of dawn."

The knowing remark made the little girl smirk. The boy raised his eyebrow.

'I can't believe it.. Haibara and Rei... Friends?' he thought but quickly pushed aside this thought, remembering why he was there.

"Rei?" he asked tentatively, "Do you finally want to tell me what has happened?"

She looked at him and nodded.

"I think that you've already waited too long. Come on and sit down. It's a long story."

As he sat down on the couch, Ai got up, ready to leave.

"Haibara, I think you have to listen to this too." Rei stopped her with a hand. "There are some things that you must hear as well. And..they might interest you... _personally _as well..

Ai looked at her in surprise but sat down again and put the magazine aside.

"Ok, I'll start from the beginning," Rei said, clearing her voice slightly. She noticed Agase at the door . "Professor, you can listen if you want."

When everyone was seated, she started her story.

-:-

"I managed to enter FBI right after graduation. At first, I was not highly considered by the other agents: they treated me differently because I was younger and didn't have experience. But, at last, I found a way to be accepted."

"How?" Agase asked.

"I'm a graduate in computer science which is basically everything that is computer related from hardware, software, networking and even hacking into systems if one's really talented. I helped out with a few cases that included hackers and system intruders, so people began to trust me. Until..."

Her face darkened.

"What?" Conan asked, "What happened, Rei?"

"Well, I got involved in a case, a strange case that... Wait I'll explain you this later. I have to give you all the details before. You see, I was not the only teenage agent in FBI: there were also two boys I knew. They had been recruited the year before and had a good deal of experience more that me.. I think I mentioned them in the letter I sent to you, Shinichi." Rei turned towards him the boy that nodded.

"Yes, you mentioned a boy that studied engineering." he said.

"Yes." Something in Rei's stomach twisted uneasily, but she didn't show it openly. "We met, the three of us, back at college. The engineer's Ryuji while the other boy's a lawyer and his name is Matt."

"Hey, wait a minute." Conan interrupted her and sat up straight. "A lawyer and an engineer worked for FBI? Why? For what purpose?"

Rei smiled slightly, seeing the astonished expression on his face.

"You reacted the same way I did when I saw them at the headquarters the first time. I thought it was strange, too." she said, "But they told me that it was all part of a plan."

"Plan?"

'Here comes the tough part...' Rei thought. She took a deep breath and continued.

"Let me explain better. Matt's father is a chief inspector at FBI and the boys often help him with some cases. One day, a young woman showed up and asked them to help her. She addressed herself specifically to Ryuji.

"What did she want?" Conan asked but Rei didn't even look at him. She turned to Ai, instead.

"She... she talked about the existence of a big underground criminal organisation. She said that she didn't know much of its activities because she was just a simple agent and not too deep into it but she knew what those criminals were capable of. She had looked for Ryuji because she wanted to ask him a favor."

Rei had said this very slowly, giving the others time to understand what she meant. She noticed that Conan and Ai had stiffened. Agase broke the silence, oblivious of their changement.

"What did she ask?"

"She said that she would have helped him and didn't care if he would arrest her or if something would happened to her... but she made him promise... she pleaded him to swear that he would save her younger... sister." Rei stopped, her eyes fixed on Ai.

The little girl had blanched in shock.

'It can't be her..'she thought.

Conan was dumbfounded just as much as her.

"The woman's name was Akemi Miyano and I think that she was your sister, right Haibara?" Rei asked softly.

Ai nodded absently but quickly looked up.

"How do you know?" she asked sharply.

"Ryuji decided to help her, sure that she was honest." Rei said, without answering her, "He told Matt what had happened and together, they worked on a plan to do what Miyano-san had asked. They had just entered FBI and were not very well known so they decided to investigate on their own; secretely, most of all since Miyano-san had said that many important people from politics to high ranking police members had been corrupted and were double-dealers. It was at this point of the investigation that they came to a dead end. And this brings me in the story."

"You got involved.." Agase remarked.

"Yes, it's the strange case that I mentioned. The boys knew that I was good in computers and that I was trustworthy so, six months ago, they asked me to help them. They told me what the investigation was about, what they had discovered till that moment and then put me to work."

"What did they found out?" Conan urged.

"Quite a bit. The Black Organisation was involved in all kinds of activities: thefts, receiving of stolen properties, corruption, murders and lots of other things. The boys re-examined all the cases that they thought could be related to the organisation and found out..many other things..." Rei stopped, pain filling her eyes. "Even what I had been searching for years."

The other three looked up at her and noticed that tears were filling up in her eyes. Conan understood immediately.

"Your parents death was not an accident, right?" he said softly.

Rei dried the unshed tears with her shirt's sleeve and nodded.

"No, it wasn't." she said, "It was.. a murder. Dad was a diplomat while Mom was a lawyer: I think that the men of the organisation have tried to corrupt them and take them to their side but they must have refused. That's why they got killed." After a pause, she went on. "But I was not the only one to be personally involved with the men in black. Ryuji's family had been killed by them too. He was the only one to survive. Fearing for his safety, Matt's parents had adopted him and changed his surname so that the men could not track him. But he did not forget what had happened so he worked out a plan, a very dangerous plan."

"What kind of plan?" Conan asked.

"Ryuji had decided to find his family's murderer just like I did. As soon as he found out that he was from the Organisation, he decided to infiltrate into the group." Rei replied, "Not many knew he was an FBI agent, except Matt, his parents, me and a few others, so he couldn't be recognized easily. He's very talented in engineering and he also worked with the bomb disposal experts, so he thought that he had a chance to get inside."

"Did he manage to do it?" Ai asked.

Rei looked at her and nodded.

"Yes, he was in the organisation a couple of months after Miyano-san's visit and every now and then he appeared to hand out notes, floppy disks and other information that he managed to bring out from there.

That was the precise moment when they got me involved. The material he had retrived was all written in a kind of code that they just couldn't decipher. I was put to work on it and spent weeks and weeks trying to find a way to crack it. I worked endlessly on those combinations of letters and numbers but, at last, I think I found a clue to its translation."

Conan got up.

"You've found a way to bring them down?" he asked, excitement in his voice.

"No... " she answered, making him slump back on the couch. "Not yet, at least. We have some clues but not the final evidence." Rei looked up at Conan, Ai and Agase. She was doubtful whether telling them the rest.

'I will put them in danger if they know everything' she thought, 'But... I also need their help to find him and work on the investigation. I can't do it alone.'

Ai was staring at her: she noticed that the girl was hesitating.

"Ikeda, there is more, right?" she asked.

"Yes, there's the last part." she replied quietly. She was still uncertain on what to do.

"If you're worried to put us in danger, well forget about it because we're already involved." Conan said airily, "I don't think that knowing something more could harm us any further."

His words managed to stir Rei up. She nodded.

"You're right: we're all on the same side." she said, "So... we continued to investigate and we were sure that we were getting closer to our goal. Ryuji had been infiltrated into the organisation for nearly ten months and I was slowly working out all the material he had brought. Matt, on the other hand, had managed to keep people out of our work and was working on other related cases as well. But then, suddenly, three months ago, everything just fell into pieces."

"What do you mean?" Conan asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Ryuji vanished. He stopped sending information and stopped calling Matt who was his only contact. We feared that they had found out his true identity, that he had been killed or worse. We couldn't ask for help so we just waited.. hoping to get some sign from him. A few weeks later, I received a short message by e-mail. It was from him." She shook her head, recalling the the feeling of disbelief she had felt when she read those words on the screen. "MYSTERY ALL OVER, BLACK AT YOUR SIDE. BE CAREFUL. ELLERY."

"What did he mean?" Agase asked in confusion.

"He wanted us to know that they had found out who he was and, worse of all, that there was one of their men on our side. One who knew everything about our work. We never thought that they would infiltrate a man in the police department. It took us completely unprepared."

"Rei?" The girl turned towards Conan.

"How can you be sure that the message was written by your colleague and it's not a way to lay you a trap?"

"No, Ryuji wrote the message. I'm sure of it. He used the code names we created to communicate with each other. Mystery is the name of the case we are working on while Ellery is his code name."

"Did you find out who the double-crosser is?" Ai asked.

"No, Matt's still working on it. But then another problem came up. Someone sent a letter to the headquarter, saying that one of the agents was a traitor. There were some photos inside. Guess who was the subject?"

"Ryuji." Conan and Ai said together.

"Yes, and everyone believed it right away since he hadn't shown up for months." Rei shook her head in frustration, "Matt and I couldn't even defend him because if we did all our work -_his_ work, especially- would have been wasted! Their plan's working perfectly. Ryuji's considered a traitor and is wanted by FBI all over America."

"Rei, what has this got to do with you?" Conan asked, "You're not in danger."

"She is." Ai said. "Don't you get it?"

Conan turned to her.

"_No_." he replied flatly.

"Haibara's right, Shinichi." Rei said "Many people saw me working with Ryuji, so they began to suspect I was a double-crosser, too. Things were getting really hard to handle so Matt told me to stay home for a while and let the dust settle. But I was too worried for Ryuji so I started to investigate on my own, doing a couple of researches and, at last, after a week's work, I found a clue."

"What did you find?" Agase asked, curiously.

"Well, I entered the local airline's system and found a reservation on a flight to Japan made by Mr. Ryuji Kazama. This was Ryuji's real name, before the adoption. I immediately informed Matt and we made a plan to let me leave the States."

"Was your suicide included in the plan?" Conan asked sharply

Rei looked at him straight in the eyes.

"Let me explain first, then you can retort." she said. "We decided that one of us, only one, should go and find Ryuji and inform him of his current condition, then we would have found a way to help him out. The choice fell on me since I was already released from work and Matt couldn't go because it would have been suspicious and we needed him. He had to give us steady information of the inquiry. At the beginning this was the plan but we had to change it shortly afterwards."

"Why?"

"I received an e-mail on my laptop.

You know too much, Ikeda. Kazama's hours are counted and so are yours. You two will end like your parents." Rei gritted her teeth, saying the last words. "I tried to trace the sender but without success."

"How did they find out?" Conan asked in shock.

"Don't ask me becasue I don't know. I've always been very cautious when I worked on Internet or opened their files, linking to their system for a fleeting second's time. They probably have some experts working for them otherwise I don't know how they could have tracked me down."

"So, you're wanted by the organisation, too?" Ai stated simply.

"Well, yes.. unless they have fallen in our trap."

Conan looked at her with confusion.

"Trap?" he echoed.

"Yes. As soon as I read the e-mail, I went down to Matt's place to discuss about the situation. Ryuji and I were in danger and he knew that we had to do something. Ryuji was probably flying to Japan while I was still in America and Matt was the only one who was really safe. We guessed that they didn't know where Ryuji was, so the problem was me. I _had_ to disappear. So.. we decided to set up my death. I asked Inspector Xanders, Matt's father, to help us too, after having told him what had been happening."

"Wait a minute." Agase interrupted her, "What do you mean with _set up_ your death?"

"We waited for a death. " she answered simply." I know that it sounds awful but it's the truth. Matt and his father controlled every notice: car crash, murder, suicide but the none of victims were suitable until three weeks ago.."

"A young Asiatic girl killed herself, locking herself in her burning car." Conan said coldly, "Perfect death for you."

Ai turned to him in stunned surprise. She had never heard him talk in that way before.

"Shinichi-kun, what are you saying?" Agase scolded him, "She.."

"No, he's right." she said, interupting the man. "I acted selfishly without thinking of the consequences." She turned to Conan, "I'm sorry. I didn't think of you and your parents. I should have informed you in some way but I didn't think of it at the moment but... please, Shinichi, try to understand. I didn't want to put you in danger: you're the only family I have."

He didn't reply. He just couldn't. What could he say? So, he just nodded, taking in her words.

"As soon as we got the news, we began to work quickly. Mr. Xanders assigned the case to Matt so he could be the only one to examine the body and the victim's things. I left him my chain and another few things so that he could say that the victim was indeedReila Ikeda, one of his fellow colleagues. I entered the passengers' list of a plane going to Japan and put my name in as soon as they told that I could do so. I left that same day."

"What? You mean that you have been here for three weeks?" Conan exclaimed, "Why didn't you contact me immediately?"

"Think, Kudo. She had to wait for the news of her death to become official." Ai remarked, "Only then she could move."

"Yes, Haibara's right." Rei said "Matt declared that the victim was me, only yesterday morning. That's why I came to your house, Shinichi. I need your help."

"You know I'll always help you, Rei." Conan said with a smile, "But before that, what did you give to my mother?"

"To Yukiko-san? Oh, nothing just a note. I asked her to do me a small favour. As soon as she gets home, she'll call Matt and tell him that I'll start the research and she will also call Shiro Ayase, my guardian, and ask him to send the rest of my things here in Japan. They are the only people to know that I'm still alive."

"I see.. wait a second.. where have you been living in these days?"

"I have a room in a small hotel in the suburbs."

"What? It's on the other side of the city! How did you come here?"

"By bus."

"And you're going to come here everyday by bus?"

"I've had a few things being sent from America and one is a scooter. I can ride it here."

"No, Rei-kun you can't live alone" Agase piped in, "Why don't you come and stay here?"

"What? Agase,I don't want to disturb you." Rei replied, "All my things will be here in a few days and I can't stock them in your house."

"Well, my house is large." Conan said, "You can put them in one of the rooms."

Rei thought of some loophole to hang on to but didn't find any.

"Ok, Shinichi and Agase, you've convinced me." she sadi with a smile, "I'll stay here."

Agase looked down at Ai.

"Is it all right for you, Ai-kun?" he asked.

"Not all, Hakase." she replied in her usual tone but she secretly appreciated that he had asked her opinion, too. He treated her as a member of his family.

"By the way, Rei, how can I help you?" Conan asked

"You must help me find Ryuji. He's in danger and I must find him before they do. And then, we go on with the investigation."

Conan was going to ask her another thing but Agase blocked him.

"Enough now, Shinichi-kun. I don't know if you noticed but it's nearly two o'clock! Let's have lunch. You can talk later.."

"All right." the teens replied and they all got up.

-:-

The four had a pleasant meal.

Shortly after lunch, Rei told that she would go and get her things down at the hotel. Conan decided to go with her and Ai joined them, too. She said that she didn't want to stay in the house the whole day. The three took the bus and arrived at the small hotel where Rei had lived for the past weeks. Her room was small but cozy. Conan noticed that there was just a large sports bag on the table.

"You didn't bring many things, Rei." he said.

"Well, I didn't come here for a holiday. I just packed up the necessary things." she replied, putting her clothes in the bag, along with a laptop and a few notebooks.

She quickly packed her things and looked around the room for a last control.

"Ok, I've finished. We can go, then." she said.

-:-

They went down to the hotel's entrance to hand out the room keys, pay and left.

"Rei? Where did you leave your scooter?" Conan asked, looking around.

"I left in the hotel's parking lot." she replied, "I hope it's still there."

Suddenly they heard a yell and saw a man running towards them.

"Stop that man!" a woman shouted from far behind him, "He's a thief! He's just stolen my bag!"

Conan looked around for something he could kick to the man.

'Come on.. a rock, a ball, anything or he'll escap-huh?'

Rei had stepped in front of him. She put her bag on the ground and lowered her cap on her eyes.

The thief was coming close to them.

"Get off the way, girl!" he snarled but Rei didn't move.

"It's better if you surrender." she said firmly.

The man tried to push her out of his way but she was faster.

Rei dropped on a knee and kicked the man's feet with the other leg. The man didn't even realize what was going on that Rei had already slipped behind him, pinning his arm on his back. He fell to the ground, face front, dropping the bag he had just stolen.

The woman that had been robbed had managed to find a policemen, so Rei handed the thief to him and received the woman's thanks.

"All right.." she said, turning to the kids, "We can go now..huh? What's wrong?"

Conan's mouth was hanging open while Ai had an amused look on her face.

"Hey, are you two all right?" Rei asked.

"What was _that_?" Conan had finally managed to put words together.

"That?" Rei asked confused, then she understood. "Oh, you mean what I did? Jeet kune doh."

"Geet- _what_?"

"It's a martial art, Kudo." Ai replied and he shot her a surprised look.

"How do you know?" he asked.

Ai smirked.

"I didn't only learn how to make experimental poisons in the organisation." she replied.

"Ah.. ok." He then turned to Rei, "Where did you learn it?"

"Well, I didn't only learn how to violate computer systems and track hackers back in USA." she replied, smiling slightly in a very Haibara-like fashion.

Conan looked at both the girls and shook his head with exasperation.

"I'll have a pretty hard time dealing with you two" he muttered under his breath as he strolled behind them.

-:-

They reached the parking lot and found Rei's grey scooter still there.

"We have a little problem." she said, turning to the other two.

"What? Is it damaged?" Conan asked, pointing the scooter.

"No, no, it works perfectly. But.. I can take only one person and you are two."

"All right." Ai said and turned to her side, "Kudo, you'll have to take the bus back home."

"What? Why me?" he demanded.

"Well, we live down at Agase's place, while you live with the Mouris." Rei replied, "Mouri-san probably remembers me, so I can't drop you there; it could be dangerous for both. And, moreover, Shinichi.." She tried to hide a smile but couldn't. "You are a gentleman: you won't let a girl go home alone by bus, would you?" Conan made a face at her, while Ai snickered. "By the way, how are things going between you and Mouri-san? Have you _finally_ got together?"

The boy blushed deeply.

"What.. you.. no.. not.. yet." he stammered, "Look, the bus is coming!"

She laughed, seeing his embarrassment. She also noticed the slight frown that crossed Haibara's face for a fleeting second.

'I see..' she thought knowingly.

"Bye, see you tomorrow." Conan said, going to the bus stop.

"Bye."the two girls replied.

"Come on, Haibara." Rei said, handing her a helmet, "Let's go."

* * *

_"No!"_

Rei woke up, breathing heavily. She had that dream again: her parents' death and then...

She got up and went downstairs, being careful not to wake up Agase or Haibara. She sat down at the kitchen table and clutched her head with her hands.

'Why? Why do these dreams torture me every night?' she thought, 'Not only my parents but why even him? He's still alive... at least, I think so.'

"Where are you?" she said softly, "I don't want to lose you, too."

"Another restless night?"

Rei looked up and saw Ai standing by the door.

"Yes, I had a nightmare." she said with a small smile, "What about you?"

"I don't feel like sleeping" she replied, "And.. I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure. Does it have something to do with what I said today?"

Ai nodded.

"How did you know that Akemi Miyano was my sister? Did she tell you?"

"No, I never met her. She talked with the boys before my arrival. I only guessed."

"Guessed?"

"While I was still in America, I searched for news of the Organisation in Internet for the investigation; even on foreign sites. One day I found an article of the death of a young woman called Masami Hirota. A case closed as a suicide. It seemed suspicious to me so I informed Matt and he recognized the girl immediately. I guessed that you were her younger sister since Yukiko-san told me that you betrayed the organisation after your sister's murder.

Ai looked at her with a strange face: a mix of sorrow and pain and Rei understood.

"I'm sorry but I never saw her. My friend Ryuji spoke with her: I'm sure he'll tell you everything.. as soon as we find him." Rei's voice wavered slightly.

"Are you worried about him?" Ai asked noticing the look on her face

"You heard what I said before, right Haibara? The other girl nodded. "I'm very worried about him: it's more than three months since I've heard him. I don't even know if he's safe or not. We were always in touch before and after the case started. I'm so used to hear him every day that.." Rei stopped, blushing slightly.

"Is he more than a simple friend?" Ai asked, gently.

Rei looked up in surprise.

"Let's say that I care for him more than I do for others." she said "He's more than a colleague and he's a very close friend." She looked at Ai, smiling a bit, "I think that my feelings for him are similar to yours towards Shinichi."

Ai blushed.

"What..? I don't feel.." she protested.

"I saw your frown when he talked about Mouri-san and also the way you look at him." Rei interrupted her. "So don't lie."

The small girl looked at her. She had the feeling that she could trust Rei.

"Don't tell him anything." she said.

"Don't worry, I won't say a word but you must do the same. Don't tell anybody about my feelings."

Ai nodded.

"All right." she said, "You've got my word, Ikeda"

"Oh.. and call me Rei." the older girl said, "We have a.. secret in common, so no more formalities."

"Ok, then you call me Ai."

"Ai-kun! Rei-kun!" Agase came in rubbing his eyes, "What are you two doing in the kitchen at this time?"

The two girls got up.

"Don't worry, Agase." Rei said, "We just had a talk."

"A talk?" the scientist asked, raising his eyebrows and looking at both. "At two in the morning?"

The girls smirked.

"We're going to sleep, now." Ai said and they went upstairs, leaving a very confused Agase downstairs.

'It seems that they have become friends.' he thought with smile 'Well, that's a good thing.'

And he went back to bed, too.

* * *

More corrections and changes have been made.


	8. The mysterious saviour

Four points of the same star

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

_**Chapter 7**_

_The mysterious saviour._

"The playground!"

"No, the videogame centre!"

"No, let's go to the park!"

Conan's head touched his palm while Ai looked around with a bored expression.

The Detective Boys had gone to the cinema together.

Agase had given them some free tickets for Masked Yaiba's film. Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta were overjoyed since he was their favourite hero. They had also managed to convince Conan and Ai to go with them. The two were not really enthusiastic but they hadn't been able to refuse, seeing the kids' happiness.

'_Why_ did I let them drag me here?' Conan thought, listening to their shouts. '_Why_ didn't I just stay home and relax?'

The film was over but since it was only four o'clock, the kids wanted to go somewhere else together. Ayumi wanted to go to the park, Genta to the videogame centre and Mitsuhiko to the local playground. They were... _discussing_ about the choice at the moment.

Conan and Ai stood in silence waiting for their decision.

"If I had known it would go like this, I would have made up an excuse and helped Rei." Conan muttered under his breath. He turned around as he heard Ai snicker. "What's so amusing about that?"

"I was imagining what help you'll be able to give her." she said, "Unless you are an expert in cryptography and never mentioned it before."

Conan blushed but managed to reply.

"Why? Are _you_ helping her in some way?"

"A bit. She has found some files full of chemistry symbols and scientific formulas and asked me to work on them. I don't know if they're related to the APTX-4869, but there's a chance. I work on those files the moment I come back from school."

He looked at her in surprise. Two weeks had passed since Rei's arrival and she had set to work as soon as her things had arrived from America. Her guardian had sent her most of her possessions so she chose a room in Shinichi's house and stocked them there, taking only what she needed.

Rei had saved all the information related to the Organisation in her laptop and had several notebooks full of notes and hints related to the codes used to write that files.

It was true that he didn't understand anything of that stuff but he thought that Haibara didn't as well.

"What?" he asked, "Why didn't you tell me anything?"

Ai looked at him.

"Because it's not a sure thing, Kudo." she replied, "The files are written in a strange code and Rei only has hints of it's translation. She has still got a lot of material to work on. For example, the files she has shown me are still half de-crypted. That's why I decided to help her; maybe, in two, we can find some useful information. And, as this wasn't enough already, she's also looking for information of that friend of hers and that's not an easy job, either."

"I see.." Conan said with a nod, "Well.. if it had been easy she wouldn't have come here to ask my help."

Rei had decided to search Ryuji alone at the moment. She had said that it would have been suspicious if many people started asking questions about him around. It would have been dangerous for them but, especially for him.

"By the way.." Conan remarked, smiling slightly, "Is it an impression or you two have become close friends? You even call yourselves with your first name!"

"Well, let's say that we have many things in common and we manage to talk to each other freely." she replied. "And she's not totally clueless like a certain person I know."

"Huh? What about me?" he asked.

"I didn't tell it was you." she replied sarcastically. "Don't tell me that you think you're clueless, Kudo?"

Conan was about to reply with a witty retort when Ayumi appeared.

"Hey, we've decided to go first to the videogame centre and then to the park." she said happily, "Let's go Conan-kun, Ai-chan!"

The two nodded and followed the chattering kids.

-:-

"Hey, it's not fair, Genta!" Mitsuhiko protested, "You cheated on the last game."

"It's not true. I just played a.. ehm.. secret move."

Conan smirked.

'Secret move?' he thought sarcastically, 'Of course...'

"Ai-chan, don't you like video games?" Ayumi asked, "You didn't even play a game."

"No, I just didn't feel like playing, today." Ai replied, "Don't worry, maybe next time."

The little girl seemed satisfied by her answer.

The five children were heading to the park. They only had to cross the road and walk straight forward. While they were waiting for the traffic light to turn green, Ayumi noticed that her shoelaces was loose, so she bent down to tie them. The others didn't notice it and walked on as soon as the signal turned green.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Ayumi called out, getting up. Ai heard her and stopped half-way, while the boys waited on the other side of the street.

A car appeared from nowhere. It was going towards the girls' direction at full speed.

Conan saw it first and whipped around.

"Haibara!" he shouted, "Watch out!"

Ai turned around and saw the car coming towards her. She could have avoided the impact but turning back around she saw that Ayumi had frozen in fear. She would never be able to get away in time.

'I have to help her!' she thought and ran towards the little girl and pushed her on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, Ai tripped on a stone and fell heavily on the ground.

The car was going to run over her.

'It's the end...' she thought, ' At least, Ayumi is safe..'

"Haibara-san!" Mitsuhiko, Genta shouted.

"Ai-chan!" Ayumi screamed.

"HAIBARA!" Conan shouted. He began to move towards her even though he knew that he wouldn't be able to reach her in time.

But he had to try.

He _couldn't_ let her die..

Suddenly, he saw someone dashing in front of him. A boy.

He dived forward and grabbed the little girl. The car braked but didn't stop completely: it hit the boy's shoulder and they both slammed against a motorcycle that was parked there.

"Damn it..!" Conan said and hurried towards them, followed by the other two kids.

-:-

Ai didn't realize what had happened.

She saw that the car was getting closer and instinctively closed her eyes waiting for the impact. Then she felt someone grabbing her.

"Don't worry." a gentle male voice whispered.

Seconds later, she heard the car brake and then the impact. She felt herself flying and collided against a motorbike with her saviour.

"Ai-chan, are you ok?" Ayumi asked anxiously, going close to her. "You're not hurt, are you?"

Ai managed to get up.

"No, I'm fine, Ayumi-chan." she said, "What about you? I pushed you on the sidewalk without warning. Are you hurt?"

The little girl shook her head, tears filling her eyes.

"Hey, Haibara-san!" Mitsuhiko asked coming close to her, "Are you fine?"

"Yes, I'm ok, but what about...?" Ai turned to the boy that had just saved her. He had gotten to his feet and had gone to talk to the driver of that mad car. Conan was with him, too.

The driver was a young man, about 24 years old and he didn't seem worried. He was angry instead.

"Hey, are you mad?" he shouted, "You could have put me in trouble coming out like that. Do you want to die soon?" Conan arched an eyebrow: that guy hadn't even noticed that he was going to run over Haibara. "Well, you should be glad that I'm in a hurry or I would have called the police." And after this, he started the engine and sped away before they could stop him.

"9694JT." the two boys muttered.

Conan looked up at the boy.

"You took the car's license plate, didn't you?" he asked.

"Yes, and so did you, right?" the elder boy said.

"Of course. Let's see if he'll be able to drive after the police hears us."

"No, way. And it will be a relief for human kind. By the way, what's your name?"

"My name's Conan Edogawa. And you are..?"

The boy was going to answer but stopped when he noticed that the other kids had come closer.

"Why did you let him go?" Genta asked.

"Yeah, he should have apologized to Haibara-san." Mitsuhiko remarked.

"Don't worry. We'll deal with him later." the elder boy said. He knelt down so that he was at Ai's level, "Are you all right?"

Ai blushed. She hadn't noticed it before but now that he was so close, she saw that he was really... good looking. He was tall with short dark-blonde hair and light blue eyes; he was wearing black jeans with matching trainers, a light grey shirt and a black leather jacket. He had a friendly, open smile and a gentle voice.

"Yes, I'm fine." she said, "Thank you for saving me… er.."

"Oh, right, I didn't introduce myself." he said with a smile, "My name's Ryu Misaki, pleased to meet you."

"My name is Ai Haibara." she replied with a small smile, "Pleased to meet you, too. And thanks for before."

Conan frowned slightly.

'Why is she smiling at him in that way? Wait a minute... what do I care if she smiles at him?' he thought, shaking his head incredulously. He turned around and saw that Ayumi was crying and the others were trying to calm her down.

"Ayumi, what's wrong?" Conan asked, "Are you hurt?"

"It's.. it's my fault.. if.. if Ai-chan was going to.. to be run over.. by the car." she stammered, tears rolling down her face.

"It's not your fault, Ayumi-chan." Ai said, coming closer to her.

Ayumi looked at her at then noticed that there was a cut on Ai's knee.

"Ai-chan, you're hurt!" she cried, "Look, you're bleeding!"

Ai who hadn't even noticed the wound, tried to reassure her but the little girl was desperate. She glanced at Conan but he shrugged helplessly. He tried to think of something to say to calm her down but nothing had come to his mind.

"Hey, it's not your fault. It was an accident."

Conan and Ai looked and saw Ryu approaching to Ayumi. He slowly lifted her up in a brotherly sort of way.

"Listen.. er. Ayumi ,right?"

"Y...Yes.." she mumbled through the tears.

"All right, Ayumi, listen to me. What has happened now was an accident. It's not your fault," he said calming her down, "Let's say that the only one to blame is that mad driver. So, stop crying now. I bet you look prettier when you smile."

Ayumi blushed and gave him a small smile.

"There you see, I was right." Ryu said, "Are you ok, now?"

"Yes, thank you, Ryu-nichan."

Ryu seemed surprise for a moment.

'Oni-chan? It's been years since someone has called me like that.' he thought. Memories were coming back to his mind but he mentally pushed then away. He put Ayumi back to the ground and turned to the other kids.

"Well, I still don't know what your names are." he said

"I am Genta."

"I am Mitsuhiko."

"Pleased to meet you, Ryu-nichan." they said together.

"Pleased to meet you, too. Listen, why don't we celebrate our meeting?" he said, pointing to a bar that was near them.

"Yes!" the three kids yelled.

"You go in and order what you want, I'll come in a second." he remarked. The kids ran into the bar.

"Ok, now.." he said to himself.

"I think these are yours."

Ryu looked down and saw Conan handing him a baseball cap and a pair of glasses.

"Oh, thanks.. ehm Conan, right? They must have fallen before." he said. He then noticed that Ai was there, too.

Conan smiled slightly.

"You noticed that they were still shaken by the accident. That's why you decided to offer them something." he said, "It would have cheered them, right away."

"You have found out my plan." Ryu replied, smiling and taking the dust of his cap, "By the way, why aren't you two with your friends?"

"Well, I'm feeling fine and I'm not hungry, either." Conan said.

"You're fine? Are you sure?" Ryu remarked, "You looked pretty worried before and the glares you shot that driver... believe me, if looks could hurt, yours could have killed."

Conan blushed.

"What..? You're wrong.. I.. didn't..!" he stammered.

Ai turned to him.

"Were you worried for me?" she asked and the boy became even more embarrassed.

Ai smirked and turned to Ryu.

"What about you, Ryu-nichan, are you ok?" she asked, "The car hit your shoulder and you also protected me from the impact with the motorbike."

There was a hint of concern in her voice that made Conan come back to sense. He frowned again.

Ryu put on his glasses, after having checked that they weren't chipped or broken.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." he replied, "But speaking of the motorbike, I'd better check if it's damaged. We slammed against it pretty hard and knocked it down."

He walked towards it and lifted it up easily. Conan and Ai were impressed by his strength. The motorbike was a grey Honda VFR 800 and it's not really small: two people were needed to lift it.

"Ok, let's see.." Ryu muttered, controlling every side of bike "There are a few scratches on the side and the left wing mirror's in pieces. Well, it could have gone worse."

"I don't think the owner will agree." Conan said, "This is a new model and it costs quite a lot."

"Seems that you're an expert in motorbikes, too." Ryu remarked," But don't worry about the damage. I am the owner and since I slammed against it, there's no one to blame.

Conan blinked.

"This is yours?" he asked with amazement.

"Yes. Do you like it?" the other boy asked.

"Yeah, it's really great, even though I prefer the Honda Hornet 900."

"That's a good one too but this goes faster."

The two started to compare the two bikes' lacks and qualities.

Ai looked at them with a slightly amused face.

'Those two have just met and look how they're talking about motorbikes.' she thought. She fixed her glance on Ryu. 'I think I've already met him somewhere: his voice sounds familiar.. but where?'

"Hey, aren't you coming?"

The three turned around. Genta was calling them from the bar entrance.

"Come on let's go." Ryu said and walked towards the bar with Conan and Ai who followed him in.

* * *

'This is getting frustrating..'

Rei rubbed her eyes wearily as she watched her laptop's screen that was full of numbers and letters.

She felt so close to a breakthrough. She had re-read all her notes and checked out the files she had already worked on but still something was missing.

She knew that the piece she needed to make it all click together was just inches out of her grasp. The point was finding it. Part of her wanted to stop for the day, knowing that her thinking was just going to get fuzzier. But she knew that even if she stopped, she wouldn't rest. If that niggling, irritating feeling hadn't gone away by now it wasn't going to any time soon.

She had closed herself in Agase's lab the moment her things had arrived from America but she still didn't find a way to translate all the information that she had from the Organisation. She only had hints that once executed brought her to another dead end.

'The key must be hidden here…' she thought, 'I have to find it: the information in these files can help many people, not only me.'

She had asked Ai to help her when she found some files with scientific formulas. Rei had some knowledge in chemistry and physics but she knew that Ai was an expert and the files could be related to the poison that she had been forced to make. The girls had set to work together but there were still no results except for the fact that they spent lots of time together. As a result their friendship had become stronger.

Rei smiled.

It was the first time that she had a female friend. A girl of her age with whom she could talk freely and that was trustworthy. It was different from her friendship with Shinichi: he was a friend and a brother, at the same time, but he couldn't understand certain things.

'He hasn't even noticed that Ai likes him.' she thought, smiling again.

She heard a knock on the door and looked up.

"Rei-kun, why don't you take a break?" Agase asked, coming in with a tray of food, "You're working non-stop since breakfast and you didn't have lunch, either. Come on, I've made you a few sandwiches and a cup of tea."

"Thanks Agase." Rei said with a smile, "Maybe you're right: a break could help me." She got up, stretching her cramped back and arms, "Have Ai and Shinichi come back?"

"No, I think that the kids have managed to drag them somewhere else after the movie." he replied, hiding a smile and Rei laughed, imagining Shinichi's face. She helped herself with a sandwich.

"Please join me Professor." she said pointing to the tray but he shook his head.

"It's just for you." he said.

"This is delicious."

Professor smiled with a sense of pride.

"I am glad you like it." he replied and left the room.

Rei picked another sandwich and looked around the room: it was all neat and in order. Nobody would have thought that three people worked in there: Agase with his inventions, Ai with her experiments and she with her researches.

The word research brought many things to her mind, first of all her friend Ryuji. Her first impulse was to go and look for him, asking if anyone has seen him around but she knew that it would have been a mistake; if the men of the Organisation were there, she would have just drawn their attention and put everyone in danger. She had to be careful: there were other people involved in the case besides her. First of all Ryuji, Shinichi and Ai and Hakase.

She turned to the window and stared at her reflection.

She had changed. Her hair, her clothes, her eyes.. nearly everything.

'Matt will be satisfied.' she thought.

Before her leaving, Matt had given her one advice.

_"Nobody must recognize you, Rei: try to disguise yourself. And wait till your.. er.. death is official."_

'Well, nobody has recognized me besides Yukiko-san: it means that I'm good in disguises.'

She looked at her reflection and her eyes filled with sorrow when she saw her bare neck. Her mother's chain was not there. She had to leave it to Matt, as the final evidence that the young suicide was really Reila Ikeda. She didn't know if she would have it back again.

It had been the price for Ryuji's and her safety.

Her stare then fell on her wrist: there was a thin thread bracelet tied to it.

It was a lucky charm that she, Ryuji and Matt had bought the day they had begun to work together on the case. She remembered Ryuji's smile and what he had said that day.

"This will protect us in case something goes wrong."

Rei smiled sadly and touched the bracelet.

"I hope that it has protected you. I really hope that you are all right."

* * *

Ryu smiled looking at the children sitting in front of him.

Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko were happily eating the delicious cake they had ordered along with some fruit juice. They seemed to have forgotten the accident and were cheerfully chatting. Conan and Ai had only ordered a cup of coffee like him.

'Typical of small kids.' Ryu thought, 'They recover very quickly.'

He liked small children very much. Their innocence and their happiness gave him a sense of peacefulness. The same feeling he had with his sister.

'I don't have to think about her..' he thought, shaking his head, 'Or I'll feel worse..'

"Ryu-nichan, are you ok?" Conan asked

Ryu turned to his side.

"Yes, Conan, I'm ok." he replied, "Just a bit of headache. I think I've caught a cold."

"I think you've got fever, too: your face is slightly flushed." Ai said.

Ryu looked at the two kids sitting on his side.

'They are more mature and responsible than the other kids of their age. Their eyes are different, too.' he thought and smiled slightly. The two kids reminded him two persons very important to him. Especially Ai. She was exactly like her..

His stare was fixed on the little girl as he took a sip of coffee. When she looked up and their eyes met, he smiled from above the cup, making Ai blush and Conan frown again.

Ryu looked in front and saw that Mitsuhiko was staring him.

"Hey, is something wrong?" he asked the little boy.

"No." he answered, "I just noticed that you and Haibara-san look a lot alike."

"What?" Ryu and Ai said together.

Ayumi joined in.

"Yeah, Mitsuhiko's right. Look, your eyes are the same colour and your hair's alike, too." she said, smiling brightly," You look like brother and sister."

She didn't know how much her statement struck the two. They were both taken back.

'Well, I've got a friend that seems to be my sister's double.' Ai thought sarcastically. 'And now, there's a boy that seems to be my brother.' She turned to look at Ryu and noticed a strange glint in his eyes: it was pain and sorrow. Conan noticed it, too.

'He's got the same look that Haibara had when she speaks of her sister.' he thought, 'Maybe, he's lost someone like her.'

Ryu got to senses quickly and his eyes brightened slightly.

"You're right: we do look alike." he said with a smile, "I've noticed it, too."

A forced smile, for Conan and Ai.

A waitress came to their table.

"Do you want to order anything else?" she asked politely.

"Do you want something else?" Ryu asked the kids and they shook their heads. He turned to the waitress with a smile, "No, we don't want anything else, thanks. May I have the bill, please?"

The girl just nodded and went to the counter, blushing slightly. Ryu had made a good impression.

The group got up and while Ryu was paying, the kids walked out.

"Please, come again." they heard the waitress say amidst a fit of giggles. Conan turned around and saw a very embarrassed Ryu coming out.

"What happened, Ryu-nichan?" Conan asked curiously.

"Nothing.." he replied, red in face but seeing the boy arch eyebrow Ryu gave up and handed him the bill.

"Turn it."he muttered.

Conan turned it and looked at the back. Ai glanced at it, too. There was a telephone number written by pencil, along with a name: Ayako Saionji.

"Who is it?" he asked confused.

"The... waitress.." Ryu mumbled and Conan and Ai stifled a laughter seeing the colour of his face.

Genta, unintentionally, helped Ryu out.

"Hey, what's the time?" he asked.

"It's nearly six o'clock." Ryu replied, looking at his watch. Ai noticed that he had a thin chain of thread around his wrist and had a déjà-vu.

'I've seen that bracelet somewhere..' she thought, 'Recently..'

"Haibara?"

"Huh?" she turned around.

Conan handed her his handkerchief.

"For your knee." he said.

Ai was taken aback.

"Thanks, Kudo." she said softly, taking it.

"Listen, have you seen that thread bracelet that Ryu's wearing? I think I've seen another one like that in these days."

"I had the same feeling, too." she replied, tying the handkerchief to her knee, "But that's not the point.. I think I've met him before."

"Really? Where?"

"I don't remember where."

"Well, surely not in the Organisation." he remarked, "I don't think one of them would risk his life to save someone."

Ai looked at him.

'He's right. None of them would save someone, risking his life or worse risking to expose the Organisation. Then where? I'm sure I have seen him or.. heard him before.'

Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko had decided that it was better to go home since it was getting late.

"Bye Conan-kun!"

"Bye Haibara-san!"

"Bye Ai-chan!"

"Bye Ryu-nichan! Hope to see you soon." the kids gleefully shouted as they ran home.

"Bye." the other three replied with a hand wave.

"Well, what about you two?" Ryu asked, turning to the "kids" "Are you going home or do you want to come with me?"

They looked up.

"Where?" Conan and Ai asked.

"To the first police station we can find. We have to report that mad driver, right?" he said, taking a pair of keys out of his jacket pocket and heading to his motorcycle.

"Ok." Conan said and Ai nodded.

"Let's go then." Ryu said, starting to walk and pushing his bike.

-:-

"Phew, we've managed it at last." Conan muttered.

They had found a police station close by but they had spent nearly an hour explaining the policeman what had happened. He was an old agent that didn't hear very well.

To top it all, it was raining heavily.

"It's pretty late now. I'm sorry, I didn't think it would take so much." Ryu said." Your parents will be worried and I can't drop you home since I don't have other helmets."

"Don't worry about that, Ryu-nichan." Conan said. "We can walk as soon as it stops raining."

_"If_ it stops raining." Ai underlined and the boy grimaced.

Ryu looked outside at the pounding rain and then at the two kids. He had decided what to do.

He opened his motorbike's trunk and pulled out a raincoat. He handed it to Conan and Ai.

"Cover yourselves with this. And no questions, I'll explain in a minute." he said with a smile.

As soon as they did what he had asked, Ryu lifted them both(with great embarrassment of the two) and put them on the bike's seat.

"Ryu-nichan, what are you doing?" Ai asked.

"Well, I can't drop you home but I can't also let you two go around alone with this weather." he replied, "So, I've decided to walk you both home."

"Wait a minute, you'll get soaking wet if you push the bike the whole way with us on top of it." Conan remarked. "Maybe you should wear the raincoat."

Ryu shook his head.

"I've got my cap and my jacket: it will be enough to keep me dry." he said. "Small kids like you get ill easily, so you must wear it."

"But you are sick." Ai said, "If you get wet, you could get worse."

"Don't worry. I'll be fine and no more protests: I've already decided." Ryu said, "So, who shall I leave first?"

"Haibara lives closer." Conan said quickly, "Let's leave her before."

"All right, Ai, you're the first. Show me the way, please."

With this, he started walking under the rain.

-:-

Agase's house was close and it was still raining hard.

Ryu, Ai and Conan didn't talk much. Every now and then, the elder boy asked if he was going the right way and one of the kids would answer.

Ai's stare was fixed on Ryu: she was sure that she had met him before but she didn't remember where and in which occasion.

'In the Organisation's headquarters? Or in America during my studies?' she thought. 'But if I met him in one of these places, he's involved with them, too. No, it can't be: Ryu's too gentle and kind to be one of them.'

Ai remembered the way he had saved her, his concern on her conditions, the way he had comforted Ayumi and his attempt to cheer the kids with some treats. He acted as an elder brother that tried to make his younger siblings happy.

'He can't be one of them.' she thought again.

Conan was staring Ai. Her gaze was fixed on Ryu and he felt a strange twitch in the stomach, seeing the scene.

'Why is she looking him with so much interest?' he thought, frowning, 'She said that she could have met him before, then what? Is she going to stare him the whole way?' Suddenly, he realized what he had been thinking and blushed, glad that no one would have noticed because of the rain and the raincoat that covered his face. 'What's going on with me? Why am I so concerned in what Haibara does? Am I... _jealous_? Jealous of her stares to Ryu? Oh, God maybe I'm turning mad. Haibara's just a friend.. a close friend, and that's all.'

But deep inside, he wasn't still sure...

Ryu felt the cold rain soak his clothes and he shivered slightly. He felt a bit dizzy, too.

'Damn it, I think I underestimated my conditions: the fever's rising and my vision's getting blurry.' he thought, 'Hold on, Ryu. You leave the children and then you can go back home.. well, back to my temporary house.'

He stopped in front of a large house and glanced at the door plate: Agase.

"Ai, is this your house?" he asked, turning around.

"Yes, Ryu-nichan. Why don't you come in?" she asked a bit worried, "You look exhausted."

"No, I can't I have to drop Conan." he said, "But thanks, anyway."

"Wait, Ryu-nichan." Conan stated, "Agase's my relative too. I can call home and say that I'm staying over at his house. Haibara's right: you don't look well. It's better if you stay inside and wait till the rain stops."

Ryu smiled weakly.

"All right, but I don't want to disturb."

Ai rang the door bell while Ryu parked his motorcycle by the entrance. Agase opened the door immediately.

"Ai-kun! I was worried. Did you see what time..?" he stopped rambling when he noticed Ryu. "Hello, who are you?"

"Hello, my name's Ryu Misaki." Ryu said, "I'm sorry but it's my fault if they are late. They were with me the whole time."

"No, don't worry but are you feeling well? You look very tired." Agase asked letting them in. "Oh my, you're soaked. Wait a minute.. Rei-kun?" He called loudly, turning around "Can you bring me a few towels? Conan-kun and Ai-kun have returned with a friend and they got soaked in the rain!"

"Yes, I'll bring them in a minute." the girl replied.

Ryu tilted his head hearing the reply.

The voice sounded oddly familiar...

'It can't be her.' he thought as an unpleasant feeling pool in his stomach. 'She's.. not here.. I think the fever's getting over me.'

He leaned against the wall, feeling shivers attack his body and his head spin slightly. But nothing of this bothered him. The only thing that worried him was the article on the newspaper that he had brought a couple of weeks ago. He prayed that it was a mistake and not the truth because it could shatter whatever was left of his tattered heart.

-:-

Rei shut the book she was reading and headed to the wardrobe where Agase stocked the towels. She picked three towels and wondered why Conan and Ai had come back so late and most of all, with one of their kid-friends. With this thought, she headed downstairs and to the front door. She had hardly reached the corridor that she caught a glimpse of the people standing by the door. She stopped dead on her tracks when she saw the tall boy next to the Conan and Ai. The towels fell to the floor with a muffled thump.

'It... can't be..' she thought, wondering if the long hours of work were making her hallucinate. 'But he looks just like..him.'

Conan noticed the look on Rei's face and approached her.

"Rei, are you all right?" he asked.

But she didn't answer. Her eyes were fixed on the boy; despite the cap lowered on his face and the water-soaked clothes, her conviction was growing. With her heart beating faster than it had in the last months, she slowly walked towards him.

Ryu looked to his side and froze. He recognized her immediately despite her changed appearance but was too stunned to speak.

Ai looked at his face. His eyes were wide with shock as though he had seen a ghost.

Finally, Rei managed to put words together.

"R.. Ryu?" she asked, slowly approaching him.

"Rei..? Is it you?" he asked, trying to get closer to her but he was too weak. His legs gave away before he could even get himself straight, making him stumble. His cap fell to the ground.

Rei rushed forward and caught him before he fell down unconscious. Unknown tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"You're alive." she whispered against his ear, holding his limp form, "I thought I'd never see you again, Ryu.."


	9. Ryu' story

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER:I do not own Detective Conan .

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

_**Chapter 8**_

_Ryu's story_

Ryu slowly opened his eyes. As he found himself staring at a foreign ceiling, he wondered where he was. He was lying on a couch with a wet cloth on his forehead. He tried to remember what had happened.

'Let's see, I was taking home that two kids.. Conan and Ai.. since it was raining.' he thought, 'But when we came to Ai's house, my head was pounding and the fever had risen. And then? Oh yes, I went inside with them and an old man greeted us. He saw that we were soaked so he called someone to bring a few towels. Then a girl came down and ...'

He sat up quickly, remembering who he had seen. He instantly clutched his head: the ache hadn't still passed.

"Don't get up. You're still weak."

Ryu turned around in the darkness and saw the girl, sitting by the window. His eyes widened.

"Rei?" he exclaimed.

"Yes, it's me." she replied with a smile and approached him. "How are you feeling, Ryu?" There was a hint of concern in her tone, "You fainted a few hours ago. Your temperature was pretty high."

But the boy didn't answer. He only kept staring at her.

She was really there. She was not a dream or an illusion created by the fever.

Rei was there and..

She was alive.

"Rei." he said again, trying to stand up, "You.. what are you..?"

He couldn't say or do anything more because the girl stopped him.

"I told you not to get up. You're still weak." she said, forcing to sit down and reached for his forehead with her hand, "Well, the fever has lowered but I think you should rest another bit."

Ryu was glad that his face was still flushed with fever. Rei was so close to him that he felt heat rising on his face.

"All right." he said, pulling back and hoping that the blush on his face wasn't too visible. "I didn't have a great idea to take that two kids under the rain, did I?" He smiled at her.

"Really a great idea! Conan and Ai told me that you already felt sick but didn't give it great importance and walked under the rain." she replied and smiled slightly. "It's typical of your character: you always think of others before yourself. They also told me about your heroic saving."

"By the way, where are those kids? Are they all right?"

"Yes, they're fine and they are asleep now: it's three in the morning."

"What? It's so late? Why aren't you sleeping?"

Rei shot him a smile that made his heart melt.

"I was worried for you." she replied, "So, I told Conan, Ai and Agase to go to sleep while I stayed here in case you needed something."

"Thanks." he mumbled in embarrassment. It was nice to feel cared by someone.. especially by her. Then he remembered what he had meant to ask ever since he saw her again.

"Rei? Listen, I read the American papers a few weeks ago and there was.."

But he was stopped again. By a finger on his lips. Rei's slender finger.

"Shh... I will explain you everything later. Not now: it isn't the right moment." she said softly. "You have to rest. By the way, you've got plenty to tell, too. I've also promised the others that we would wait for them."

"The others?" he questionned.

"Yes, Agase, Conan and Ai."

"What? They know?"

"They are involved in MYSTERY. Especially, Conan and Ai."

"But they are children! How can they be involved?"

"Let's say that they are not what they seem." she said, smiling slightly.

Ryu clutched his head with a hand.

"You're only confusing me." he remarked.

"Come on, another few hours of sleep and you'll be good as new." she said, "Goodnight, then."

"Hey, wait.. I've got one last question." he remarked. Rei arched an eyebrow. "I swear that it's the last one. I'll go to sleep staight forward after that.. Ok?" He smiled in that special way that made Rei melt. She only nodded in reply.

"Why are you here in Japan?" he asked, "I thought you were.. in America." He paused and stared at her. "I thought you were dead."

Rei held her gaze, boring into his ice blue eyes. He must have been worried just like the Kudos.

"I came to look for you." she replied, "But... it's a long story. There's a lot to explain."

Ryu felt her hesitation and knew that whatever had happened must have very serious to force her to put up a stunt such as her death. He decided not to press on further.

"Ok, you'll tell me later." he said.

He then noticed that he had different clothes. He shot Rei a quizzical look, pointing to the blue jeans and black T-shirt that he was wearing.

"Oh, Shinichi lent you some of his clothes." she said, "Yours were soaked."

"Shinichi? You mean your friend Shinichi Kudo?" he asked in surprise, "When can I meet him? You always said that he's a great detective: he could help us."

Rei smirked.

"You already met him."she said.

"What?" he asked in confusion. Then, a sudden thought struck him and he stared at the clothes. Rei blushed guessing his thoughts.

"Don't worry." she remarked, "Agase changed you."

Ryu blushed a little.

"You know me too well." he stated.

She laughed slightly.

"Come on, you've got to sleep."

"All right, see you tomorrow morning then."

"Ok, goodnight."

She was going to leave the room when she heard him call her.

"Rei?"

"Yes?" she said, turning around.

"It's good to see you again."

She didn't expect him to say something like that: it touched her deeply inside. She smiled broadly.

"It's good to see you too, Ryu. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

* * *

Ran was in her bed, trying to go to sleep.

She could hear the thunders rumbling outside and the rain drops pounding against her window.

'I wish Conan-kun was here.' she thought, 'Storms make me feel uneasy.'

The little boy had called before dinner, saying that he was going to sleep over at Agase's house because of the storm. She had offered to come and pick him up but he said that he said that it wasn't necessary.

_"I don't want you to catch a cold because of me, Ran-neechan. And I'm very tired: we've been out the whole day. I'll go straight to bed."_

Ran smiled remembering the little boy's words. He was very protective with her. She sometimes felt as their roles were switched: he was the eldest and she the little one.

However, she had noticed that, in the last weeks, Conan spent a lot of time at Agase's house. Yes, he was his relative but he never went their everyday.

'I wonder if he's hiding something.' she thought, but quickly shook her head. 'Oh, I'm getting paranoid! I can't confuse Conan with Shinichi. He's only staying with Agase because of the rain and he also called because he didn't want me to worry. Shinichi should take him as an example. He called me months ago and talked for less than two minutes!'

Ran looked outside at the pouring rain for a few seconds.

'He and his cases!' she thought angrily.

And with this, she went to sleep.

* * *

It was hardly eight in the morning but nearly everyone was up already. Conan, Ai, Rei and Ryu were having breakfast together.

Nobody was speaking. Each of them had many questions but they knew that the answers would have come later so it was useless to think of it at the moment. They just ate silently.

Agase had just got up and was going downstairs to have breakfast. The four looked up as he entered the kitchen.

"Good morning!" he said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Agase." the four replied.

"Everybody slept well?" he asked and without waiting the reply, he turned to Ryu, "Are you feeling better? I gave you a medicine for the cold last night and it should have made effect."

"Yes, I'm fine, thanks." Ryu replied, smiling, "Never felt better."

Conan got up and pointed to the living room.

"I think we could start to.. talk." he said, "There are a lot of things that need explanations."

Rei and Ryu got up, immediately. Ai poured some coffee for Agase and, unconsciously, brushed her hair out of her eyes with her left hand as she stood up.

This simple gesture hit Ryu, who happened to be watching her.

'I'm sure I've... I've seen someone do like that with the hair.. yes, like that girl... in the lab..' he thought, 'What if..?'

They all went to the living room and sat down. It was a strange sight. Everyone was waiting for someone to start to speak. At last, Ryu broke the silence.

"Well, I think that I should be the first." he said, "I don't know how much Rei has told you but... let's start from the beginning. My name.. my real name. is Ryuji Kazama and I'm a FBI agent."

"Ryu, I've already given them a general idea of MYSTERY." Rei remarked, "And I've also told them all I know. I. ._we_.. would like to know what has happened to you."

"I'll answer to all your questions." he said and turned to Conan and Ai, "But, first, tell me who you two are. Rei said that you are not what you seem and I'd like to know how you got involved in this case. Or should I say mess."

Conan looked up.

"I'm Shinichi Kudo." he said, "And I'm in this condition because two men of the Organisation that I've been spying have forced me to take a strange pill that, as you can see, has shrunk me to a seven-year old kid."

Ryu blinked. Twice. This little kid was actually seventeen like him? He turned to Rei as though waiting for her to laugh out, saying that it was all a joke but she nodded at him. There wasn't a trace of hilarity in her eyes.

Wondering fleetingly of what else he would have to hear, he turned to boy.

"We meet at last, Shinichi Kudo." he said, holding out a hand," Rei has always spoken very highly of you and your skills. Pleased to meet you."

Conan shook his hand with a smile.

"Pleased to meet you too, Kazama."

Ryu now turned to Ai.

"I suppose your story's not very different from his, right?" he asked.

Ai shook her head.

"Yes and no." she replied. "I was a member of the Black Organisation where I worked as a scientist, chemist to be exact. My work was to create a poison called tested it on Kudo but for some unknown reason, it didn't have it's deadly effect. I am here because I betrayed them. They killed my sister and when I threatened to stop my experiments on the poison, they, in reply, handcuffed me to the tubes of a gas chamber, sentencing me to death for insubordination. I didn't want them to kill me, so I decided to do it myself and took my own poison but, ironically, my own creation betrayed me and it just shrunk me. I managed to escape and came here because it was the only place I knew in this city. My real name is Shiho Miyano."

Ryu's eyes widened. Two things had hit him: the name Miyano and the fact that she was a scientist of the Organisation.

'Could she really be..?' he thought, eyes fixed on the girl.

"Listen, were you operative here in Japan... let's say more or less a year ago?" he asked out of the blue.

Arching an eyebrow slightly at the sudden question, Ai just nodded in answer.

"Did you work in a lab in...-ah, I don't remember the area..but it was around Tokyo." As the girl nodded again, this time with more suspicion than surprise, Ryu's suspicions grew stronger. "Are you... Sherry?"

Ai looked up in genuine surprise. How did _he_ know her code name? Their stares met and she looked straight into his eyes... his light blue eyes. And in that very moment, she remembered where she had seen him.

"Martini..?" she asked uncertainly.

"Yes." he said with a small smile,

"Martini?" Rei repeated, turning to Ryu, "Was that your code-name?"

"Yes, I chose the name of the first alcoholic drink that came in my mind." he answered quickly and turned back to Ai. "Then it's really you. I have to admit that you're the last person I would have ever expected to see, Sherry."

"You two know each other?" Agase asked with curiousity.

"We met once, nearly a year ago when they sent me here in Japan for a work." Ryu replied.

"Work?" Conan repeated, "What work did you do?"

"Yes, you never told what you did in the Organisation." Rei added.

"Not to mention _how_ you entered it." Ai said.

Ryu looked at them: he was a bit doubtful whether to tell them everything. It would have revealed the truth of his past.. all the truth. His family, his pain and, most important of all, his plan. But they were involved too...

'They have the right to know what I know.' he thought.

"All right, I'll explain you everything but it's a pretty long story." he said.

The others nodded and he began.

-:-

"Everything started five years ago, after that our family moved to the States. You see, my father was an engineer specialized in microelectronics."

"Micro-_what_?" Conan asked.

"Microelectronics." Ryu said with a small smile, seeing the other boy's blank look, "It's the technology that deals with electronic systems utilizing extremely small elements. Well, Father was working on a project that interested very much the police forces. He was developing special bugging devices that were practically invisible. They could be applied to objects without being detected by machines, like metal detectors and also on people that couldn't notice them because extremely small."

"Yes, I've heard of a scientist that was working on a project like that." Agase said thoughtfully, "If I'm not mistaken his name was.. Misaki Kazama. Yes, a very skilled and young man too. He was hardly thirty when he exposed his project. I remember that an American company offered to back him and he went abroad with his family. The last thing I heard about him was that he died in a fire with his wife and child." Hakase paused abruptly as his last few words sank in and he quickly turned to Ryu with a apologetic look. "Sorry, I didn't .."

"Don't worry, Agase." the boy stopped him, "You only said the truth. Did you know my father?"

"Not well. We met a few times in some scientific lecture. He always came with his wife, a very pretty foreign woman. Always polite and gentle with everyone. Both of them."

Ryu smiled.

"Thanks." he said softly.

Rei glanced at him. Agase's praises on his parents must have made him feel proud but, at the same time, she was sure he felt a deep pain. It was like a wound that didn't heal perfectly and began to hurt every time you touched it. She knew very well how it felt. Ai knew it too. The girls didn't say anything but just looked away, lost in their thoughts.

Conan noticed the strange atmosphere and decided to change subject.

"Kazama, were there other people interested for your father's work?" he asked.

Ryu looked up and nodded. He had understood his attempt to help him.

"Yes, there were." he replied, "_The__y_ were interested. They didn't want the authorities to have the devices because it could have been disadvantageous for them. You can imagine the reason.." The others nodded. "That's why they tried to pull Father on their side: if he gave them the devices, their activities would have bettered and the police wouldn't have been able to stop them. They tried to corrupt him but he refused and then.." Ryu stopped and gritted his teeth.

Rei stopped him. She knew what had happened. He had told her this once and she could never forget his painful look.

"Ryu, you don't have to tell us if you don't want." she said gently but he shook his head.

"It's all right, Rei." he said with a small smile, "It's the only way to explain.. the rest.

As Agase said before, a company offered to back my father's project, so we moved to Washington. Father set to work immediately and my mother found a job as a music teacher. You know, she was a French musician. In the meanwhile, my sister and I moved to our new schools."

Ai looked up.

"You have a sister?" she asked.

"Yes..", Ryu sad, smiling tenderly. "Her name.. was Françoise and she was five years younger than me." He looked down at Ai, "You look a lot like her."

"So, that's why you were so surprised when Ayumi said that we seemed brother and sister."

"I hoped nobody would have noticed." Ryu mumbled a bit embarrassed and both Rei and Ai smiled. Conan, on the other hand, felt that strange twitch in the stomach again, seeing Ai smile to Ryu.

"We were living there for more than a year and Father's project was going to be ultimated. I think that the Organisation contacted him in that period: he was deciding when to present his work. But he must have refused to be corrupted or do anything illegal so... so they decided to get rid him and destroy his work."

Ryu took a deep breath and recalled the memories that had cancelled the happy childhood he had had and made him orphan and alone.

"One night, a man got in our house. Françoise and I were already asleep but my parents were still awake. Father had become very uneasy. I think that it was the period after his refusal to give his project to the Organisation. I remember that he had also bought a gun; it was as though he knew that they would have come. That man... he sneaked in our house and killed my parents. He was a professional, not a common burglar. My father didn't even have the time to point his gun."

"Kazama-kun, how do you know this?" Agase asked, "You said you were sleeping."

"That night I woke up with a jolt, without a reason and feeling worried." he replied." I went downstairs, careful not to make noise and wake someone. But... when I was going upstairs again, I heard a strange noise, a muffled thud, coming from my father's studio. The door was half-open and I..I saw.. everything.

A man dressed in black with a gun in his hand while my mother and my father were lying on the floor. There was blood on their chests... That man hadn't noticed me because he left immediately after through the studio's back door. I waited a few minutes and then slid inside the studio. I was going to see if my parents were still alive when I heard Françoise scream.

My heart stopped. I thought that the man had come back to finish his job and kill us too; maybe, he noticed that we were there. I ran upstairs and saw that the first floor was on fire... That man had probably put the fire to make my parents' death seem an accident.

I ran to my sister's room but the roof beam's had fallen down. I couldn't get in and she couldn't get out. I..I couldn't do anything: I could only see her there, trembling with fear on her bed, calling me, pleading me to help her. I tried to get in but without success. I fainted a few minutes later because of the smoke. The neighbours must have seen the fire and called the firemen to put it out.

When I came around, I was in a hospital room.

I was the only one that had survived. Fr... Françoise had died of suffocation. My parents had died instantly for the gun shots."

Ryu stopped talking. Something raw and hot was travelling up his throat; the pain was becoming unbearable as all those terrible memories came back to his mind once again.

'Get a grip!' he inwardly shouted to himself.

Conan, Ai and Agase didn't say a word. They didn't know what to say because his grief was too big and they couldn't understand the depth of his pain.

Rei knew that words were useless, so she only put her hand on top of his. Their eyes met and she smiled slightly. It was smile full of encouragement but also of understanding. He smiled back, appreciating her silent solidarity.

"My father had a good friend in America who worked in FBI." Ryu started his story again, "His name's Mark Xanders and he adopted me and took me with him to New York. He feared that who killed my parents could want me too, so I changed surname and became Ryuji Xanders. His wife was Japanese, so he could say that I was a relative. The police started to investigate on my family's death and a few months later, they closed the case saying it had been a simple housebreaking. They said that the thief got caught red-handed by my parents, he killed them and then set the house on fire to put the police of the scent." Ryu laughed bitterly, "They didn't even consider my evidence."

"Why not?" Agase asked.

"I don't know how exactly but I think that somebody covered up the case. At least, that's what Mr. Xanders and I think." he replied, "As soon as I moved to New York and settled down at the Xanders' place, I began to work out a plan in my mind."

"A plan?" Conan and Ai said together.

Ryu looked at them. They saw a glint of firmness in his eyes.

"Yes, a plan. I know that it sounds ridiculous that a twelve year old boy could think of it but I decided to find out the truth myself and I wanted to find it quickly. I began to study hard and managed to finish high school quickly and I entered university and attended electronic and mechanical engineering. I graduated after a year and a half and all of this happened when I was hardly sixteen. Then I joined FBI and I also attended a course with the bomb disposal experts. At this point, I considered my preparation partially satisfying."

"Partially?" Conan remarked dumbfounded. "What kind of plan did you have in your mind?"

Ryu smiled slightly.

"I divided my plan in two stages, roughly speaking." he said, "During the first one, I had to achieve a determined series of qualities. First a qualified education and then, a great preparation that would have allowed me to enter FBI . In the second part, I would have started to investigate. I actually thought that I'd have to do everything alone but I got some help."

"Who else helped you?" Agase asked.

"Matt wanted to help me. He did so much to be useful to me and help me. He graduated in law and entered into FBI with me." A smile found it's way on Ryu's face as he talked about his friend and foster brother. "He said that we had more chances to find out something if we were in two and Mr. Xanders, being chief inspector, helped me.. us.. . He pointed out all the cases that he thought were suspicious or strange."

"Wait a minute." Conan asked, "You already knew that the Organisation was behind your family's death?"

"No, I didn't know that." Ryu replied, "We just looked for old and new cases that could have some details in common with my case. The first time I heard about the Organisation was when.." He stopped and turned to Ai. "Well, when I met Akemi Miyano."

Ai looked at him but didn't speak or move.

Rei, on the other hand, seemed to have understood Ai's doubts: she wanted to know what her sister had said, what her exact words had been but with all of them around..

'She doesn't know how to start with all of us here.' she thought, 'Maybe, I can help her a bit.'

She got up quickly and turned to Agase.

"Professor, don't you think we should get lunch ready?" she asked, "I know it's only half past twelve but we have so much to talk about and a break wouldn't be so bad after all. What do you think?"

The old scientist looked at her and nodded, getting up. Rei then turned to Conan.

"Shinichi, don't you think you should call Mouri-san?" she remarked, "She's probably worried for you."

"Uhm.. ok. I'll do it later, after lunch." he replied but Rei urged him.

"I think it's better if you do it now. You wouldn't want to miss something when we start again, would you?"

Conan looked at the girl with a strange expression, wondering what the hell was wrong with her but nevertheless he stood up and went to the telephone.

'Why is she forcing me to go and speak to Ran?' he thought, 'What's she up to?'

Ryu got up too.

"Don't you think someone should go and help Agase?" he asked but Rei quickly stopped him.

"Don't worry, I'll go and help him." she said, "You just stay here and wait." She turned around and bent down to Ai, lowering her voice till it was a soft whisper. "I think I can hold them out for no more than ten minutes: I hope it will be enough for you."

Ai looked at her in surprise and gave her a thankful smile. Rei just winked at her and left the room.

Ryu had understood what was going on and as soon as he saw Rei leave, he turned to Ai.

"Do you want to talk to me?" he asked, "That would explain why Rei chased the others away."

The girl nodded.

"I would like to know how you met my sister and what she told you." she said, "Rei only told us what she knew."

Ryu looked at her for a couple of moments.

"All right..." he said with a nod, "It was nearly a year and a half ago.."

-:-

Conan had just called Ran and had invented a story to stay at Professor's house all evening.

'Ran made me swear to come home for dinner.' he thought, 'I'd better be there or she'll get mad.'

Shuddering at the thought of what a mad Ran could do to him if he didn't obey, he headed to the living room. He had hardly put a foot in the room that someone grabbed him from behind, putting a hand over his mouth, and pulled him out of the way.

'What the..?' he thought as he was dragged away.

_"Shinichi, you can't go in."_

The whisper reached him when he had twisted around to see who his aggressor was. Conan found himself facing Rei. He would have shouted at her if her hand wasn't still over his mouth. The only thing that came out was a strange, muffled sound.

"Don't shout and don't talk loudly, please. Ok?" she said softly.

He nodded and she removed her hand from his mouth.

"What was that for?" he asked with irritation.

"You can't go in at the moment."

"Why not?"

"Ai and Ryu are talking. It's better if we don't disturb them."

Hearing this, Conan felt that strange, annoying twitch in his stomach again and he frowned slightly.

"What are they talking about?" he asked.

"Don't you guess?"

"No."

"Ryu's the only one that has talked with Ai's sister in USA. She probably wants to know what they talked about, what were her exact words.."

"Couldn't she ask him while we were there?"

Rei shot him an exasperated look.

"Gods, Niichan, you are really clueless sometimes."

"You're talking like Haibara." Conan stated with annoyance, making the girl smirk.

"By the way..." Rei said, turning sober. "I think that Ai feels guilty for her sister's death and I'm sure that if she talks with Ryu, she'll be able to go over this moment."

"How do you know this?" Conan asked with surprise, "Did she tell you?"

"No, Ai didn't tell me anything." she replied, shaking her head, "I noticed it on my own. I saw the sorrow in her eyes when I talked about Miyano-san last time and also when she asked me if I had talked with her."

"So that's why you chased Agase and me out?"

"Glad to see you're catching up.. Yes, I wanted to help her. I... I know very well what it means to feel guilty to be alive when someone you loved died."

Conan looked up at her and saw a sad glint in her eyes.

"You think Kazama will help her feel better?" he asked softly.

"Yes, at least, I hope so. Ryu felt guilty to be alive, too. Maybe, if they talk a bit, they'll be able to see that those tragedies weren't their fault."

Just then, Ryu's voice reached them.

Conan and Rei looked at each other and silently placed themselves at the side of the door.

* * *

_Two boys were walking down the crowded streets of New York._

_"Matt, why didn't we take the car?" the__ blonde asked,__ "We could have gone there in a few minutes."_

_"Few minutes? Are you mad? We're in New York, Ryu." the black-haired boy replied, "If we took the car we would have been stuck in the traffic for hours. We can make it in half the time if we walk." He the__n__ smiled teasingly. "Why? Don't you like walking?"_

_The other frowned a bit. _

_"It's not like that.. I just feel uncomfortable when__... some... they... " __he mumbled embaressedly, "Look and turn around at me.. smiling." He loo__ked up at his brother. "__I don't understand how you can be so calm and cool."_

_Matt chuckled. Ryu always felt uneasy when girls paid attention to him._

_"You should be used to it by now." he remarked as they turned a corner, "Come on, man__ You were the most popular during high school and university and even FBI tra__ining__. Girls just swarmed around you: the youngest student. Your charm does make good impression on everyone, Ryu."_

_The blonde boy blushed slightly. _

_"Well, you were popular too." he sta__ted._

_"Yes and I manage to control myself: I don't start going red every time a girl smiles me."_

_"I don't get red every time.."_

_"Sorry, I made a mistake." Matt cor__rected himself, "Y__ou get embarrassed when girls smile and you turn red when _Rei_ smiles."_

_Ryu's face tur__ned to the shade of a ripe tomato__. Knowing that any fur__ther discussion on the subject would just make Matt win, __ he quickly changed topic._

_"By the way, why did you want to come with me?" he asked._

_Matt turned serious instantly._

_"We don't who sent you that message." he said, "For__ all we know,__ it could be someone involved with your parents' case and that has decided to finish the job: get rid of you. If we're in two maybe we can get through it unharmed."_

_Ryu smiled. Matt knew every detail of his past and had always been keen to help him. He was a real friend, one that you would pay to have by your side. _

_He put his hand in his pocket and retrieved the small piece of paper that was__ the reason of this afternoon walk__. He scanned the message with his eye__s again, trying to see if he could find a detail that he might have missed before._

To Ryuji Xanders

I would like to talk to you about a particular case that I would like you to work on. If you accept my request, please come to the bar next to the university. I will be waiting for you there.

Akemi Miyano

_"You don't know this.. __Akemi Miyano, __do you__?" __Matt asked, peering over to rea__d the message._

_"No, I don't. I would remember her." he repl__ied,__ "She's Japanese and the only ones from Japan that I've met here are you, your mother and Rei." Ryu frowned. "But I don't und__erstand..__ How does she know that I'm an FBI agent? Why did she choose me to investigate and not another more experienced agent? Or a detective? And how does she know me in first place? The message was in my mail."_

_"Well, these cou__ld be__ the first things you can ask her." Matt said, "This is the place."_

_The two boys stopped in front of the bar where they often stopped aft__er courses at college. __There were many people inside, mainly students._

_"How the hell are we going to recognize her?" Matt wondered while Ryu looked around. Suddenly, he saw a young woman standing up from a corner table and waving to him._

_"Hey, Matt." he said, touching his shoulder, "Down there." _

_The boys went towards the woman's table._

_"Excuse me, are you Akemi Miyano?" Ryu asked._

_The woman smiled and nodded. _

_"Yes, it's me. I was waiting you, Ryuji Xanders." she said and turned to Matt, "And you are..?"_

_"Matt Xanders, pleased to meet you." he said with a curt nod_

_"I'm sorry but I wanted to talk with Ryuji-san alone." she said apologetically._

_Matt turned to Ryu, who nodded reassuringly. The woman didn't seem dangerous. _

_The dark-haired boy nod__ded back._

_"It's not a problem." he said with a small smi__le to the woman, "__I'll wait outside."_

_As soon as Matt left, Ryu sat__ down. A waiter approached their table and t__he two ordered_

_"Miyano-san, what do you want to tell me?" Ryu asked, as they wai__ted for__ their coffees to arrive._

_Akemi looked at him straight in the eyes and he felt himself blush. She looked a lot like Rei. If the girl had ever had a sister, it would be this woman for__ sure._

_"Can I ask you a question before?" she asked softly._

_Ryu nod__ded with a sense light nervousness that he couldn't explain._

_"You are.. Ryuji Kazama, right?"_

_Ryu felt a col__d__ shiver run down his spine. _

_It had been more than four years that someone had called him with his real name. He felt as tho__ugh it was referred to another person and not to himself._

_"How do you know that?" he asked coldly, won__dering if he hadn't been a bit too naif to stay alone with a woman that he didn't know. And that knew too much of him for his own taste._

_The wai__ter brought__ their orders and left after a couple of moments. In the meantime, Ryu's eye__s never left Akemi. Who was she? How did he know him? All sorts of questions ran through his mind. Understanding his inner thoughts, Akemi looked at him and smiled._

_"Don't worry. I don't want to harm you." she said calmly. Her features cha__nged into a more serious expression. __"But I want to be sure that you're the person that I'm looking for."_

-:-

"You know, it was strange.." Ryu said looking at Ai, "I had never seen your sister before but I couldn't help trusting her. And, believe me, I don't trust people easily."

"Why?" she asked with slight surprise. He seemed to be a very trusting person.

"After my parents' murder and my sister's death, I began to lock my emotions and feelings inside myself. I didn't trust people and I didn't want to depend on anyone. I..I didn't want to suffer anymore. But it wasn't so simple. When I got adopted, the Xanders accepted me warmly. They have loved me as another son and Matt has always treated me as a brother. I didn't want... couldn't hurt them. I just couldn't.

So, I decided to change completely. I decided to become Ryuji Xanders and buried whatever was left of Ryuji Kazama deep inside myself. It was like wearing a mask basically.. but it was the only way to please my new family."

"Yes, but... you were acting. Pretending to be another person." Ai remarked slowly, "You were never yourself."

Ryu looked at her with a strange expression on his face.

"You know, to tell the truth, I didn't mind pretending. I had lost my family, lost my house and I had changed my name. I thought that if I changed my character and personality, I would have only completed the process. I thought that it would have been like starting again.

His tone was so bitter that Ai couldn't say anything.

'He has suffered a lot...' she thought, 'Even more than me.'

Silence reigned in the room for a few minutes until Ryu took a deep breath and looked back at Ai.

"However, back to your sister.."

-:-

_"Yes." he said slowly, "I'm Ryuji Kazama, but how do you know that?"_

_"I did a research on you." Akemi answered, "I heard of your ability in investigations by a friend that studied in your university. I would like you to work on a case..."_

_"Just one more thing." he interrupted her, "Do you know... eve__rything__ about me?"_

_"If you're referr__ing__ to your past, then the answer is yes. I know everything." she rep__lied and__ gave him a warm smile, "That's the main reason that made me choose you for helping me. We have many things in common."_

_Ryu stared at her. What did she mean?_

_"All right, what would you want me to do, Miyano-san?"_

_"I will explain you everything but, please, don't interrupt me. I don't have much time."_

_He nodded and listened __carefully._

_Akemi talked about the existence of a large underground criminal organisation. She didn't know much of its activities because she was just a simple field agent and not too deep in it but she knew that they were involved in all kinds of crimes. Thefts, receiving of stolen properties, corruption, murders.. The lis__t was everlasting.__ Their only sign of recognition was the colour of their clothing._

_Black._

_When he heard this, Ryu__ felt a chi__ll go through him. The image of a man with a gun flashed in his mind. A man clad from head to feet in.._

_Black clothes..._

_They began to tal__k animatedly. __Ryu wanted to know how she got involved. Akemi told him that her father had been a scientist working for them and her mother was involved, too. They had both died years ago when she__ was a child. Fortunately,__ in their will, they had entrusted her in care of a friend that wasn't too deep into the organisation. Unfortunately, the will had been written many years before her sister's birth and it didn't save her from their clutches. Akemi could see her only a few times a year becasue they had__ sent abroad to study__ and she couldn't stand it anymore._

_"Kazama-kun, I don't care if you arrest me for being a criminal or if something happens to me but, please, promise me that you will help me save my younger sister.__" she__ pleaded him, "__It's not fair that I can live a normal life while she can't. She doesn't deserve to live in that hell. She's about your age but she doesn't live like a normal young girl. She's only forced to work for them and do wha__t they demand." Ryu could see despair in her eyes. "__I know that it will be dangerous but.. _

_Please, help me get her out of there."_

_Ryu stared at her. The pain and sorrow in her voice wer__e genuine.__ She rea__lly__ wanted to help.. no.. save her sister at any cost. He understood very well how she felt._

_"Miyano-san, I give you my word that I'll do anything to help you save your sister and bring the Black Organisation down." he said, smiling reassuringly. "Trust me. I will help you."_

-:-

"That was the first and last time I ever saw Miyano-san." Ryu remarked, "She told me that it would have been hard, if not impossible, to meet each other since the men of the Organisation followed her constantly. She had managed to meet me only because she had made up an excuse, saying she had to meet an old school friend. In fact, she never contacted me after that day. The only news I got about her was.. well.. of her death."

Ryu stopped and looked at Ai. The little girl was crying silently, tears rolling down her cheeks.

His eyes softened. He knew even too well what it meant to loose a sister and also what it meant to feel guilty for her death. Ryu got up and went to sit next to her, thinking of a way to soothe her pain even though he knew that it was impossible.

He watched the girl cry and was struck again by her resemblance to his younger sister. He gently stroked her head and then hugged her. He felt a sharp jolt at his heart when he did so. He behaved in the same way with Françoise whenever she woke up after a nightmare.

"Shh... it's all right" he whispered softly, "It's all right."

Ai was slightly shocked at the beginning but then she relaxed, appreciating his attempt to comfort her. When they broke the embrace a few minutes later, Ai looked up at Ryu and saw a familiar look in his eyes.

That tenderness reminded Ai of something, but what? It took her a couple of moments to figure out where she had seen it before.

It was the look Akemi had whenever she saw her. Those eyes full of brotherly tenderness.

'He said that I look a lot like his sister.' she thought, 'He reminds me of Akemi in many ways, too.'

Ryu looked at her.

"Listen, I know that I'm not the most suitable person to tell you this but I think that you should stop feeling guilty and forgive yourself." he said softly, "Your sister died trying to save but it's not your fault. She knew that it would have been dangerous but she didn't care because she cared for you more than for own self." He looked her straight in the eyes. "You can't torment yourself because she loved you. Think of it: you would have done the same for her."

Ai nodded. What he was saying was true but...

"Do you really believe your words?" she asked, "Have _you_ forgiven yourself for not having saved your sister?"

"I would be hypocrite if I said yes." he answered softly, "I spent the past four years torturing my mind, cursing myself to have survived. That's the main reason that brought to my character changes and to my... acting."

Ai lowered her eyes.

'I knew that they were only words...' she thought.

"But.."

She looked up as he went on.

"But a friend managed to make me change idea and gave me a good reason to react."

"How?" she asked, curiously.

Ryu smiled slightly.

-:-

Ouside the room, the girl tensed slightly.

She remembered that night. Very well.

* * *

_It was nea__rly midnight and the only light in the apartment was the table lamp._

_Rei was working hard on her laptop. She was controlling if the disks that Ryu had brought her were working well. If one was damaged, he should have taken that determined information again. _

_She had to work quickly. Ryu couldn't be seen with her. They would have immediately killed him if they saw him with an FBI agent. _

_She had just finished to control the last set of files when she heard a soft whimper. Alarmed, she turned around and saw Ryu, who had fallen asleep on the couch, tossing and turning and muttering something in his sleep._

_'He's having a nightmare.' she thought, getting up and going towards him._

_"No.. Françoise.. I'm coming.. don't be scared.." he muttered desperately, "I..I will save.. No.. the fire.."_

_Rei shook him gently, trying to wake him up._

_"Ryu, come on, wake up." she said, "Wake up."_

_He got up with a start__, startling her in the process.__ Cold sweat wet his face and he was breathing heavily. He turned to his side and saw the girl._

_"Rei?"__ he asked puzzlement. He seemed to be sur__prised to see her there._

_"You had a bad dream." she sta__ted with__ a bit concern, "Are you all right?"_

_"Yes, I'm fine." he rep__lied__ shortly, getting up. "Have you finished with the floppy disks?"_

_Rei was slightly surprised Ryu had never been so cold._

_"Yes, I've finished but... listen, are you really all right? You're pale and you look tired."_

_Ryu glanced at her and saw concern in her eyes. Somwthing inside him__ cringed:__ it hurt him to see people worry for him. It made him hate himself and his decision to never show his true feelings to anyone._

_"Yes, I'm fine." he said, forcing a smile, "Don't worry."_

_"You can't fool me, Ryu." Rei__ was not going to give up,__ "Something is troubling you. You have changed from the day we found that files regarding your family."_

_He vis__ibly tensed__ when she mentioned his family. He turned around._

_"I don't want to talk about it." he said shortly, "If you're finished then I can go." _

_He went to the front door, rea__dy to open it and just leave._

_"You can't blame yourself for your sister's death."_

_"What?" __He whi__pped around as she spoke._

_"You were muttering your sister's name before." she rem__arked,__ "I understand how you feel but you can't feel guilty for all your life."_

_Ryu felt a surge of emotion rushing through his whole body. All the pain and anger that he had managed to hide for four years, had emerged in his mind and heart the day he read the files where his family's death had been described. He had been able to keep some control on himself for all these days but now Rei's words released something inside him._

_"You understand how I feel?" he rep__eated slowly,__ walking towards her._

_Rei noticed the look on his face._

_'I'm sorry, Ryu, but it's the only way..' she__ thought, 'Go ahead.. Give release to everything..'_

_Ryu came closer to her. He wanted to vent his anger and pain on Rei. At that moment, he didn't care__ if__ she was his colleague, one of his best friends... and the one that he loved._

_"You understand, right?" he asked coldly, "Do you know how__ it feels__ to see your younger sister scared to death that pleads you to help her.. but you don't do anything?"_

_"You couldn't do anything, Ryu." she__ retorted,__ "It's not your fau.."_

_"I SHOULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING!" he snapped, shaking with fury. Rei__ actually took a step away from him.__ "I should have passed through that door, even if it was burning! I should hav__e done something!__ I AM JUST A COWARD! Do you know what it means to hear your sister's screams every single night in your dreams?"_

_Rei didn't answer. She only listened to his outburst._

_"WHY?WHY DID I SURVIVE?" he shouted, "I lost my family, my identity. Eve__rything!_

_Look at me, I can't even be myself. I have to pretend to be another person. Ryuji Xanders... And now.. now, I'm working with my parents' murderers. Do you really understand how I feel?"_

_His que__stion lingered in air__ but she still kept quiet. He smiled bitterly. _

_"Death is better than this damn life I'm living. I'm just a person without an identity. It would hav__e been better if I had died four years ago.."_

_Des__pite his reflexes, Ryu didn't see Rei's sudden movement._

_The last thing he saw was__ her arm's sudden move and before he knew what was happening, __Ryu recoiled on the table.__ His hand rea__ched for the burning spot on his face as he realised._

_Rei had slapped him hard on the face. _

_The hit had managed to make him come back to sense again because he shook his head and looked up at her. He was startled to see tears on her face._

_"Rei? What..?" The wor__des died in his mouth as__ her stare silenced him._

_"I had to do it. Don't say that, Ryu. You can't really desire death." she said softly."When my parents died I felt like you: guilty, angry and despaired but...But when the pain sub__sided,__ I realized I still had a reason to live."_

_"A reason?" he asked, "Which?"_

_"I must continue to live not only for myself but also for them. And it's the same for you. You can't want to die because it would kill your family again. The ones that love us never really leave us, Ryu. You can always find them. In here." Her hand rea__ched to her heart.__ "Your father, your mother and your sister are still alive inside your heart and your soul. Live for__ them, Ryu. Live for them and for yourself."_

_Ryu didn't know what to say. _

_He just stared at the girl. Deep inside his heart, he knew that she was right but four years of suffering couldn't be easily forgotten. Tears were filling his eyes and he tried to force them back in._

_Rei seemed to understand how he was feeling. She had faced the same problem years ago and had__n't come to a complete recover herself. __She approached him and hugged him tightly. At this display of com__prehension,__ Ryu just broke down. All the feelings hidden inside him came out through his tears. He had found someone to trust and he knew that he didn't have to pretend anymore in front of her_

-:-

"After that day, I stopped torturing myself. I thought that if I had continued to do so, my family would have suffered with me too." Ryu explained, "I slowly began to live again. I stopped pretending every moment and began to be myself again. At least, I was myself with Rei."

Ai looked at Ryu and noticed the smile on his face.

'He likes her, too.' she mused.

"Only with her?" she asked.

"Er...well, with Matt and the Xanders too but.. yes, I am actually myself with her." he answered, "I know I can trust her because she has suffered like me. I can be totally sincere with her and she can do the same with me." He smiled embarrassedly. "She's very important for me. I don't know what I'd do without her."

Rei, who was behind the door with Conan, blushed deeply hearing his words.

It was true. Their relationship was special. They were more than simple colleagues, more than friends. Was it love? Neither would admit it to the other so, who knows?

"Listen, Haibar.. no.. Miyano.." Ryu stuttered.

"Call me, Ai." she interrupted with a smile.

"Ok, Ai. Listen, I hope you understood what I meant to tell you. Stop feeling guilty and start to live. I know it's hard: I still haven't managed to do it myself but you can try." He put a hand on her shoulder. "If you need help or comfort or if you only need to talk, you can come to me. Or Rei if you wish. I'm sure that she'll be glad to help you as much as I do. We understand how you feel and we can help each other."

Ai looked up in surprise: it was the first time that someone talked to her in this way. She nodded.

"Thank you, Ryu-nichan." she said but quickly corrected herself, "Sorry, I meant to say, Kazama."

But to her surprise, Ryu smiled.

"Don't worry. Call me like that if you want to." he said, "I don't mind."

"Really?"

"Yes.. I like it. You look so alike to Françoise that I feel as though I had my sister again."

"Well, I wouldn't mind having an elder brother."

The two blondes shared a look and smiled at each other.

"Ok, then it's decided... sis."

"Yes, it's decided, brother."

* * *

Rei smiled. She had been right to think that Ryu and Ai could have gone well together.

'It will help them both.' she thought.

"Shinichi, come on we have to go." she said, "We can't stay here. It would be rather hard to explain if they see us." She looked down at the boy but he wasn't even listening. His eyes were fixed on Ryu and Ai and she was surprised to see that he had a frown on his face.

'Now what's the matter with him?' she thought.

"Hey, little brother? Shinichi?"

"Huh?" He heard her this time and looked up at her.

"Come with me."

They both went to the hall. Suddenly, Rei bent down and brought her face right in front of Conan's. The boy blushed.

"R..Rei?" he stammered, "What are you doing?"

She looked at him straight in the eyes.

"Why were you frowning?" she asked.

"What? I was not frowning. You're wrong."

"No, I'm sure of that. You were frowning. Do you have something against Ryu?"

"What? No, no... He seems to be a good guy and I don't have anything against him. Really, I wouldn't mind making friends with him. I think we have many things in common."

"You do. You two have many things in common. Believe me. I know both very well." she remarked and frowned slightly. "Then why were you frowning? Don't you like the fact that Ai and Ryu can be friends? I think it would be a good thing for both. Look at us for example: we're not brother and sister but we behave as though we were and that's the special thing of our friendship. I think that if Ai and Ryu did the same, it could be very important for them. It could help them win their inner struggles. Am I right?"

Conan nodded. Rei was right. It would have helped them the same way it had helped her.

"So, will you please tell me _why_ were you frowning while they were talking togeth...Wait a minute." She stopped, realizing what was going on. She looked at him with a small smile on her face. "Are you jealous?"

Conan turned red.

"_What_? No, why should I be jealous?" he said quickly. "Haibara can do what she wants."

He answered a bit _too_ quickly and Rei noticed it.

"Ah, all right. I was only guessing." she said carelessly and the boy relaxed without realizing it. They stayed in silence for a while.

"Niichan, do you have a crush on Ai?" Rei asked suddenly.

This took Conan completely off guard. He just stared at Rei.

"_WHAT_?" he asked dumbfounded and turned a deep shade of red, "I can't fall in love with her."

That wasn't the answer Rei expected.

"Why not?" she asked, "She's our age. She's smart and pretty. Why.. couldn't you like her?"

Agase saved Conan from replying.

"Lunch is ready!" he called.

"We have to go." Conan said, heading to the door.

Rei smiled slightly at him.

"We'll talk about this another time." she said, letting him know that their discussion was far from being over. Conan sighed with relief without realizing it.

They left the hall and while they were heading to the kitchen, they met Ryu and Ai halfway. They both shot Rei a thankful smile and she smiled back.

Conan felt that strange twitch in the stomach again. Ai looked at him and he blushed when their eyes met. The girl raised an eyebrow but didn't say or do anything and went in the kitchen after Rei and Ryu.

Conan waited outside a moment as Rei's words came back to his mind.

'Oh God, am I really falling for Haibara?' he thought. Different feelings surged in his heart and he shook his head. He was getting confused.

'I'll think about it when I'm more calm and concentrated.' he thought and went inside the kitchen to have lunch with the others.


	10. Working with the enemy

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER:I do not own Detective Conan .

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

_**Chapter 9**_

_Working with the enemy_

"Ok, I think this part might interest you most since.. well.. nobody ever heard about it."

Lunch was over and everybody was in the living room again. Ryu was sitting on one of the armchairs, facing Rei, Conan and Ai that were on the couch. Agase was on the other armchair.

Ryu took a deep breath and resumed to speak.

"After my meeting with Miyano-san, I began to plan what to do with Matt. We had just entered FBI and nearly nobody knew that. So we had a head start. I knew that I couldn't do everything alone but I also knew that we couldn't involve many people. Miyano-san had warned me that many.. important people had been corrupted and were double-dealers so I had to be careful in my choices. At the beginning, I only asked Matt and his father to help me.

Matt, being a lawyer could rummage through judicial archives, see what cases had been closed for lack of proof or find anything strange while his father, being inspector could check the police archives and also contact us if anything queer happened since he was the first to be informed down at the headquarters.

At the beginning, I only worked to find a clue or something that could be related to the Organisation. I started from the cases that we had checked when I was looking for any similarities with my parents' death. Then I started to gather information contacting a few trusty informers that I had in town."

"Hey, wait a minute. Didn't you say that you had just entered FBI?" Conan asked, "How did you have informers already?"

"Mr. Xanders always let Matt and me help him when he had a case to solve." he replied, smiling slightly, "We usually went around asking questions and got more information than a group of police officers. Who would think that two teenagers were FBI agents?"

"So you fooled them, right?" Conan said, grinning.

"Exactly." the other boy replied, "We managed to put together a good deal of information and adding this to what we already knew, we were able to find some more details about the Organisation. We found out that the Organisation probably had two headquarters. One in Japan and one in America, probably in New York. But after tis initial head start, we came to a dead end. We couldn't find anything else, nothing more than less important issues. That's why we decided to carry out the crucial and... most dangerous point of the plan."

"Infiltrate you inside." Rei remarked and Ryu nodded.

"Matt was totally against it." he stated, "He said that I was practically walking to death, giving myself to the enemy but after a bit of talking, he realised that it was the only thing to do."

"How did you manage to get inside the Organisation?" Ai asked, "They don't trust anybody else than the ones they have trained."

"Well, that was the first problem. How to get in? I discussed about it with Matt and his father and we found a way at the end. We decided to use the informers."

"How?" Agase asked.

"They had to spread a rumour. Rumour that a scientist with good skills was in town looking for a job. They also had to subtly add that he had a certain.. background. Let's say that I had to wait and see if the Organisation could be interested on me. In the meanwhile, I moved to an apartment, so that no one could think I had any connections with the Xanders, consequently with FBI. I acquired a new identity and Ryo Yamazaki became my alias. I erased all traces of my previous life, every single detail of it and create a fake past for my new self and began to start living as a scientist interested in criminal activities. My efforts were rewarded a couple of weeks later when a man contacted me. Weeks later, I was a member of the Black Organisation."

The others looked at him with surprise.

"Kazama?" Conan asked.

"Yes?" he said, looking at him.

"Did they really take you for a criminal? You don't look like one."

Ryu laughed slightly,

"I know how to act." he replied and turned to Ai, "Did you suspect anything when we met?"

"No, nothing." she replied with a sarcastic smile, "You were like the others who were there. Skilled, cold and emotionless."

"What did you actually do in the Organisation?" Rei asked, "You never really told us in detail. You just used to show up with some material and information and then disappear again."

"I couldn't sit down and talk, could I?" he remarked, "Especially with you or Matt. Anyway, I worked with the other scientists to the security of their computer system. That was enough for me. Thanks god, I didn't go any further."

"Why not?"

"Those who held high positions were usually the ones that were used for very.. important missions by the Organisation." Ai answered and the others turned to her.

"Very important?" Agase asked.

"Yes, the high members were all perfect shots, emotionless, and the best of assassins." she replied simply. (1)

"Exactly." Ryu added, "The ones who weren't.. -er, just as _perfect_ were either immediately trained to be so or used for different purposes such as scientific research. But even those who were not specially trained had to be able to use a gun properly."

"Well, that shouldn't have been a problem for you." Rei remarked, "You were one of the best as for shooting and fighting skills during the training courses."

"That helped but I think that they really needed me for my scientific skills." Ryu said thoughtfully, "I noticed that there were many scientists around, especially computer programmers."

At this statement, Conan looked up.

"Computer programmers?" he asked.

"Yes, I think that they're working on some kind of project. It must be something really big because nearly all the people I met when I was in there were involved." Ryu said, "Too bad I couldn't find out what it was. They didn't let me in."

"They probably didn't want strangers involved." Rei remarked.

Ryu nodded.

"Yes, I was the "new-one" after all."

"Do you how the Organisation is structured?" Agase asked him. The others turned around in surprise and he reddened slightly. "Well.. I.. I was just... curious to know how it was inside. Ai-kun never told us anything about it."

Ryu smiled.

"It's not a problem, Agase." he replied, "I'll tell you all I know.

Well, the Organisation is formed as a hierarchic system.

At the top, we have the leaders, the minds and senders of all the criminal activities. I don't even know if there is someone that actually knows their identities because they act in the shadows and never in first person.

Next, we have the high members. They're the élite, the most important among the operatives, those who carry out the important orders. They are the ones that.." Ryu stopped abruptly. He was going to -the ones that kill... but he didn't want to hurt Ai or Rei so he rephrased the sentence. "They are the ones involved in murders.

Third in rank, we have the scientists. They are divided in two groups: the scientific research group, that takes ahead all the chemical, medic-poison projects and the computer technology and programming group that, besides working on that big project I mentioned before, also works on the security and the protection of the Organisation's computer system. They have to prevent any intrusion that could allow a loss of information.

And, at the end, there are the agents, the field operatives. They do all the minor criminal activities: thefts, black-mail, corruption.. They are the largest group but also the less qualified and less important. They only obey to the orders of their superiors." Ryu looked at the others. "This is a general idea of the Organisation. I haven't mistaken anything, have I ?" He looked at Ai and she shook her head.

"Where did you work?" Conan asked, "In the scientific group?"

"Martini was in the computers' group." Ai answered, "While I was in the medic-poison one."

"How did you manage to steal information from their computers?" Rei asked, turning to Ryu. "Those scientists must be really good. I've been working on the files that you've given me for months and they're still indecipherable. The codes that they have used are very complex and I've got only a few hints for their full translation. Certainly, the security system that they have used for the files are nothing in comparison to the ones they must have prepared for their main system."

Ryu nodded in agreement.

"It's true. The computers' protections are inviolable from outside. You tried once, remember?" he said, turning to Rei and she nodded. "And also from inside, it's quite impossible to penetrate. The whole system is controlled by the main computer and that's used only by the most trustworthy scientists. No one, except them, can use that."

"What do you mean with controlled?" Conan asked.

"Every scientist had a computer and every time one was in function, the main computer knew exactly what you were doing." Ai answered, "If someone tried to send an e-mail or tried to download something regarding the Organisation, it would show it immediately."

"It's a very sophisticate software." Ryu added, "The main computer knew exactly what happened in every other computer. Even what keys on the keyboard had been pressed. If you tried to reach data that was reserved, they would know. And you would have been killed in that very moment."

"Then, how did you manage to bring out the information?"

"It took me a while to figure out how to fool them and their system. You see, they didn't trust me completely since I was the new member. I think they did a few researches on me but couldn't find anything compromising. Matt and I had created a perfect and anonymous past for Martini but they still didn't trust me enough to let me work alone so they set me to work as an assistant with another scientist, Scotch. During the first weeks, I never managed to even touch a computer because they always called Scotch for any technical problem. Then, at last, I got to work, too. One of the computer scientists had created a new diagnostic program that was better than the previous ones, so we engineers had to add a new hard disk to all the computers of the Organisation and set up the knew program. Scotch and I were sent here in Japan to change the hardware of the computers and that's when I took advantage of an opportunity. The only one that had been presented to me." Ryu stopped and smiled slyly at Ai." I have to thank Sherry. She helped me."

"What?" Conan and Rei exclaimed and they both turned to Ai, who looked just as surprised.

"_I_ helped you?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes, you helped me. Unintentionally, but your help made me take out all the information from the Organisation's system."

The others looked at him blankly.

"Don't look at me like that! I just managed to fool everyone with a small trick." Ryu turned to Ai. "Do you remember how we met?"

Ai nodded.

-:-

_It was late at night, nearly one o'clock in the__ morning__ but the young scientist was still hard at wor__k __in the lab. _

_Going in the__re__ was like going in another dimension. _

_It was all dark, only lighted by a dim source, the computer screen. Sherry always worked in this condition. It well explained the world she was living in. So dark and gloomy without a ray of light._

_Her only hope and light was her sister. They were both working in the Organisation and they hardly saw each other. _

_But now everything could change._

_She had to finish her work: the creation of the APTX-4869, the perfect poison. She had been working on this project for more than a year, ever since she graduated in sciences and chemistry. Even though she was so young, she was talented and they had assigned her the task that her parents had been working on before their car accident. _

_The drug was still experimental but it had been used a few times and the victims' death had been confirmed. Sherry felt a shiver run down her spine. She was creating something to kill and that already killed.. but it was the only way she had to live with her sister._

_'As soon as I finish the APTX, I'll be free to leave them.' she thought, 'And we will live together, 'Nee-chan. Happily together, at last.'_

_The sound of approaching footsteps made her snap out of her thoughts. _

_Sherry resumed to work, fingers held stiffly on the keyboard and waited patiently to see who was coming there at that time. The transparent door slid opened slowly, squeaking a little when it disappeared into the walls. Two figures walked in, one hands in pockets, the other carrying a briefcase, an uncomfortable black covering that mysterious bodies, hiding their dark personalities._

_The first one led the other inside the room and turned the lights on and faced the girl._

_"What are you doing here?" he asked harshly._

_"I am working, Vodka." she replied in her usual emotionless tone, without taking her eyes of the screen and her work._

_"Well, you'll have to stop. He's here to check out your computer." he said, jerking a thu__mb__ to the other one._

_She sighed and saved her work before turning the computer off and getting up._

_"Come on, get to work and don't make mistakes, Martini, or you'll be sorry." Vodka said to the other but the new one didn't even flinch and just headed to the computer. Sherry glanced at him carelessly. Young, hardly twenty, probably her age._

_'A new member.' she thought, 'Vodka's testing his powers on him.'_

_Martini put his briefcase on the table and carefully unplugged all the cables connected to the central process unit before lifting it up and placing it on the table. He quickly glanced at the unit's side to see which model it was and then opened the briefcase. Inside were some screwdrivers, cutters, wires, some small screws, some floppy disks and, wrapped in a plastic covering, was a computer's hard disk._

_Sherry raised an eyebrow noticing the last object and turned to Vodka. _

_"I thought you said that he just had to check the computer, not change the hard disk." she remarked coldly. "I risk to loose all my work."_

_Vodka, who didn't know anything about computers, looked at her blankly not knowing what to say. The boy answered in his place._

_"There will not be any changes." he remarked in a colourless tone, "I just have to add the hard disk to the system and expand the memory. Then I have to install the new pro__gram__ against intruders." He tur__ned__ around to the girl and their eyes met. Light blue with light blue, but neither spoke. Both noticed that the__ other__ had a familiar glint of sorrow in the eyes._

_"Hey, you're not here to talk!" Vodka remarked harshly, making the two look back at him. "Go back to work. And do it quickly."_

_Martini frowned slightly._

_"Quickly? Why don't you do it then since you're an expert?" he asked sarcastically, "I have to work carefully or the whole system could get damaged."_

_He resumed work, not noticing the smirk on Sherry's face and the scowl on Vodka's one._

-:-

"I didn't help you in any way. Vodka was there the whole time and we couldn't even look at each other without him to notice." Ai said looking at Ryu but the boy smiled, shaking his head.

"I said that you helped me unintentionally." he remarked, "I'll explain myself better. While I was dismantling the computer unit and fitting the new hard disk, I also installed a small processor inside, connected to the old disk. Then, while I was setting up the new diagnostic program, I managed to finish my work, installing a program for downloads that I wrote."

Ryu looked up. Only Rei and Agase seemed to have understood what he had done. The others still had a blank look.

"In short, every time Sherry turned on her computer, I could have a connection to the Organisation's system without being tracked down by the main computer. In this way, I could download all the information I needed on my laptop and then save them in disks."

"How could you do that?" Conan asked, "You went back to America and, from what Rei has said, you continued to steal information. How could you know when her computer was on since she was here?"

"That's easy. The processor inside her computer sent a signal to my laptop every time it was turned on or in use. Whenever I said so, it automatically downloaded the files with information, thanks to the program I had installed."

"And nobody noticed it?" Ai asked.

"No, no one noticed. The processor is well hidden inside that computer. So, unless they dismantle it into pieces, no one will find it. The same for the connection."

"Ryu, where did you find that processor?" Rei asked.

"Don't forget that I'm an electronic engineer. I modified a simple processor for my use. Anway, going on, I found a way to bring information out of there but I didn't imagine that the files would have been written in code language. Matt didn't understand anything about computers and I had some knowledge of them but it was not enough to decipher all the files. That's why we decided to involve Rei in the investigation. She was already well known in our headquarter for her skills and for having tracked down many hackers and we knew that she was trustworthy since we were friends from university. She was the last member of our.. team."

"What happened later?" Agase asked and Ryu became serious.

"Well, things were improving steadily. I've been infiltrated in the Organisation for nearly a year and nobody seemed to have suspects on me; Rei was working on the information I brought her and had discovered many things about their activities; Matt was keeping an eye on the all the other cases with his father's help and also managed to cover up my absence. I was never there and Rei was always busy, so he used to say that we were working on other cases together. We were reaching our goal. Another few months at least and we could have found the final evidence that would have brought them down. But, it would have been too good to be true... They were not so incompetent. We underestimated them and _that_ was our mistake." Ryu stopped and the others didn't say anything. At last, they would know what had really happened and how a plan that seemed perfect just failed miserably.

"Four months ago, I was down at the Organisation's American headquarter, when I heard a few agents talking about a traitor." Ryu glanced at Ai. "It was you, Sherry. They said that you just disappeared from the room where you were locked in and that agents were looking for you all around Japan to.. to kill you."

At this, Ai shivered slightly and Conan looked at her with concern.

"They decided to search for some clues in your computer, so they asked Scotch to come and check it out. At that point, I started to think that I couldn't stay there for long."

"Why not?" Agase asked.

Ryu turned to him.

"If there was someone in the Organisation that I had to fear on finding the truth about me that was Scotch, both for his scientific skills and for his ability as an agent. He always treated me with suspicion and I sure that if he checked out Sherry's computer and found the processor, it would take him less than half a second to put the pieces together and understand who I was and what I was doing. I decided to take my chances and wait and see what was going to happen. If I got a hint that something was going wrong, I would have come back to FBI. What I didn't know was that they already knew everything about me."

"What do you mean?" Conan asked.

"It seems that they had suspects on my real identity from the beginning. They had infiltrated their agents in all the police departments, including FBI headquarters, months before Sherry's flight.

In other words, they played with me. They pretended to believe me so that I could carry on my plan. In this way, I led them straight to MYSTERY and the agents that were hidden in FBI finished the work telling them who was working with me." He looked at Rei, "I was worried for you, Rei. They knew that we worked together in MYSTERY and that you were the one that deciphered the files. I managed to send a message to inform you before leaving. Did you get it?"

The girl nodded.

"Yes, I received it a few weeks after you stopped contacting Matt." she replied, "It took us totally unprepared. We never imagined that there would have been double-crossers on our side."

"I never thought about it either. When I found out, it took me off guard too." Ryu remarked, "But, you know, we should have expected it.. that was another of our mistakes."

"Ryu, why weren't you killed?" Ai asked quietly, "You know a lot about them. They could have silenced you immediately."

Conan looked up.

'Good question.' he thought.

Ryu sighed softly.

"I mentioned my father's project about the micro-devices, didn't I?" he asked and the others nodded, "I never told this to anyone but I was carrying out his work. Unknown to most, Father had sent a copy of the project to Mr. Xanders a few days before his death. I didn't know anything about it till Mr Xanders told me. It happened while I was still in university. When I finally graduated, I decided to finish my father's task.

But.. I don't know how but the Organisation knew that my father's project had not gone burnt in the fire that destroyed my house. They probably wanted to corrupt me and take me on their side or just kill me after having the project but I disappeared before they could have a chance to get me. I thought of going back to FBI but they had foreseen my moves. Since they couldn't have what they wanted, I couldn't get what I wanted either.."

"The letter.." Ai said.

"..and the photos." Conan completed.

"Exactly. They managed to make me seem a traitor and everybody believed them." Ryu said bitterly, "Their plan worked perfectly."

"Ryu, Matt and I couldn't.." Rei started to say but he stopped her.

"Don't worry, Rei. I know that you two couldn't do or say anything. It would have compromised all our work." he said, reassuring her with a slight smile, "I understand."

"What did you do afterwards?" Agase asked, "How come you're here?"

"I was in an unpleasant situation. Both the Organisation and FBI considered me a traitor. I knew that I couldn't stay in America anymore, so I started to work on an escape plan. I didn't want to give up and let the blacks win. I thought that I could gather some other information in Japan and then I could have contacted Matt or Rei to tell them that I was still alive. I managed to enter different airline's systems and put my name on three different flights. I thought that this could have sidetracked anyone on my tracks. Then I came here in Tokyo and have been living here for more than a month."

"You've been here for a month?" Conan said, "Where did you live?"

"Near the Beika hotel." he replied, "I work as a waiter in a bar near there since the owners have rented me a room."

"What?" Rei exclaimed, turning to him in surprise, "Have you gone mad? You've been living in the centre of the city and, moreover, you've been working in a bar, showing yourself to everyone. It's a miracle that they hadn't already found you."

"They would have never found me, Rei." he said, "Because they would have never thought that I would be there."

He smirked, seeing the puzzled expression on his friend's face and not only on hers. Ai and Agase were confused too. Conan was the only one that had understood what Ryu meant and was trying to hide a smile.

"Since I was hiding, it would have been obvious for me to go and stay.. -er.. I don't know.. in a small hotel in the suburbs, never leaving my room unless it was necessary, for example. But that is the first place the men of the Organisation would have looked for me. Instead, they would never look for me in a crowded bar. They probably think that I have chosen a lonely place as a refuge, avoiding people but that would have been too suspicious. Anyone would notice me in that way. Only a inexpert would do like this…." Ryu stopped his explanation, noticing the red lines on Rei's face. Realisation hit him. "Hey, don't tell me that you..." He failed to hide a smile.

The girl nodded embarrassedly.

"Yes." she replied with a hint of annoyance, "When I came here, I stayed for three weeks in a room I rented in a small hotel in the suburbs."

Ryu didn't know whether to laugh or apologize. He caught a glimpse of Conan who was stifling a laughter. Their eyes met and they couldn't stand it any longer: the two boys started to laugh.

Ai looked at the two with a slightly amused look, while Agase looked at them with confusion.

"Listen, Rei, I'm sorry.." Ryu said, through gasps, "I didn't want to tease you."

"Oh really, I didn't think so." she replied with the same annoyed tone. "By the way, how did you get that idea of hiding in the crowd?"

Ryu grinned.

"Generally speaking, the more something is strange, the less mysterious it turns out to be." Ryu quoted.

"The common, anonymous crimes are the one most difficult to solve." Conan continued.

"Exactly like an anonymous face is the most difficult to identify." they finished together. (2)

Rei raised an eyebrow.

"I knew that you two were alike but not so much." she said, smiling slightly and then turned to Ai, "It will be hard to deal with these two."

The other girl smiled.

"Hey, I've told you everything I knew. Now, it's your turn." Ryu said, looking at Conan, Ai and Rei. "If we put all the things we know together we can outline the general situation."

The other three looked at each and nodded.

Rei was the first to speak.

She quickly explained Ryu about the plan she and Matt had made to find him and how they had been forced to change it after she received the Organisation's threatening e-mail. How they had decided to feign her death and how she had waited till everything was official. She also told him of the problems she had met in deciphering of the files he had given her.

Ryu didn't say anything but just nodded at her and then turned to listen to the others. Rei listened carefully, too.

Conan and Ai spoke in turns since they had met the Organisation many times together.

Conan told them about his first encounter with Gin and Vodka and how they left before the pill effected completely. Fortunately for him, they didn't know about the shrinking effect of the pill. He explained how he came to Agase's place and how he found himself going and stay at the Mouri's agency so that he could investigate or find clues about the men of the Org. He spoke about Akemi that mentioned -the men dressed in black, before dieing. Then his second encounter with Gin and Vodka on the Shinkansen to Kyoto where he found out their code names and foiled the bomb they had set up before leaving the train. His encounter with Tequila who he overheard talking to Vodka and that was later killed by a bomb. He afterward learned that the man Tequila was meeting with was planning to sell a list of genius computer programmers to the Black Organization.

Ai joined in the conversation now. She told them of her betrayal and how she revealed her identity to Conan, explaining how she had managed to escape from the Black Org. She told how APTX 4869 had killed others and that a team, with her at lead, had gone to Shinichi Kudo's house because his death had not been confirmed. She confessed how she had changed the records to show Shinichi's death as confirmed and that there were no more investigations on him (that she knew of). After her betrayal, the Black Org destroyed her lab with all her research work in it. Despite an attempt on their part to retrieve some information related to the APTX that was casually in possess of her sister's old professor, they gathered nothing but the computer virus Night Baron. She then decided to stay at Agase's house and work on the antidote from the scratch.

Ai explained how a month a so later from her arrival, she had spotted Gin's car and how Conan put a bug in it, hoping to follow them and discover their plans. Unfortunately, Gin found the bug and a strand of her hair in the car and he figure that she was following him.

Conan explained that they had gone to the memorial of a famous filmmaker to try and stop Gin and Vodka from committing a murder but also because they suspected that the operative at the memorial (Pisco) may have the Apotoxin. Ai told how she got caught by Pisco who knew her as a child and, nearly got killed by Gin. However, she managed to escape with Conan's help.

They later found out that Pisco had been killed by Gin for failing to be discreet in his assassination.

Shortly after, they met another one of them in disguise:Vermouth. It happend during a bus-jack.

Ai explained how she could sense the Organisation's members and that she had felt Vermouth presence during the memorial. She realised that there wouldn't have been any possibility for her to get away from the woman, so she had decided to get killed in the bus' explosion rather than let all the people she knew die for her fault but Conan blocked her and saved her before it was too late.

Conan told them that Kogoroh's case files had been stolen and then were returned. He suspected that the Black Org. was behind it and that it could be a ploy to draw out Shinichi Kudo. He also mentioned his suspicions that the actress Chris Vineyard could be Vermouth. He explained how his suspects had been first directed to another person. Jodie Santemillion, Teitan High School's English teacher. Her attitude and her habit of calling Cool Kid/Guy when he was Conan or Shinichi had made him behave cautiously around her.

They both then told Ryu and Rei of the masked party event where they had really risked to loose their lives. Kogoroh and Conan (Shinichi actually) had been invited to it. The detective knew that it had to be a trap: the invitation's envelope was addressed to Shinichi Kudo but the card invited Conan Edogawa. Nevertheless, he had decided to go. Ai actually glared at him (much to Rei and Ryu's amusement) and said how she had tried to dissuade him from doing anything but had been rewarded by being put to sleep and shut in the lab. Conan, on the other hand, retorted on how she ruined his plan and that she could have been killed hadn't it been for Ran's presence.

"Why don't you go on?" Rei asked mildly, knowing that an argument was going to start.

Conan nodded and said that he later discovered that he had been wrong about Jodie. She was an FBI agent working in a department in Los Angeles and was after Vermouth for she had killed her father and was trying to capture her. Unfortunately she had failed and was silenced by the Organisation before she could revenge herself.

He then stated that he had come to the conclusion that the Black Org's major source of income is assassination, but they also dealt with the development of new poisons/drugs and were gathering together talented computer programmers for some unknown purpose. He thought this because during a case, he found a computer disk belonging to a murdered computer programmer that had diary entries relating to the Black Org. When he had read the disk, he had discovered that the programmer was forced to work for the organisation -Tequila was his first contact and later his contact was a woman with whom he spoke on the phone-probably, Vermouth. Whenever the programmer asked the woman about the purpose of the program he was developing she repeated a rather ambiguous statement.

_"We can be both God and the devil since we're trying to raise the dead against the stream of time."_

He then mentioned Akai Shuichi. He had seen him during many cases but never paid attention to him until Ran told him that she had met him while they had been in New York together. She said that Akai was a FBI agent and he thought it as unbelievable. He believed that Akai was an ex-agent now working for the Organisation.

When they finished, there was a strange silence in the room. A rather tensed silence.

Rei turned to Conan and Ai.

"You two have had your troubles." she remarked slowly, "I think that nobody has ever escaped them so many times."

Ryu hadn't say a word. He had been listening carefully to the other's stories and now, he seemed to be lost in his thoughts. Conan, Ai and Rei turned to him. He hadn't stopped them even once; instead, he had listened to everything calmly.. but they did noticed that he had flinched when Vermouth had been mentioned. At last, Ryu looked up at them. He took a deep breath.

"This is our situation at the moment. The four of us are in the Organisation's Wanted list and each for a different reason.

Shinichi Kudo, young detective that witnessed the Organisation's activities: presumed dead but still not confirmed. Shiho Miyano, young scientist that betrayed the Organisation and that must be silenced because knows too much of them. Still on the run.

Reila Ikeda, FBI agent specialized in computer science that worked on the secret investigation called MYSTERY, the one that had to decode all the information brought out from the Organisation's system. Presumed dead as a suicide in her car and death officially confirmed by FBI.

And, me, FBI agent specialized in electronic and mechanical engineering that worked on the secret investigation called MYSTERY, infiltrator in the Organisation that brought out as much information he could. Cover fallen after a year and now considered a traitor both from the Org, that wants him dead and from FBI that wants him in jail. Still on the run." Ryu paused. "We are in a really difficult situation. Two presumed dead and two wanted."

The uncomfortable silence fell in the room again.

"What are we going to do?" Conan asked and the others looked at him with surprise. He just shrugged. "Surely, we're not going to wait for them to find us, right? Let's find a way to act without being seen and without endangering ourselves or anyone else."

Rei couldn't help but smile at this. After all these years, Shinichi was still his old self: cocky and self-confident. Ai seemed to have thought the same because she shook her head disapprovingly.

'How can he be so simple-minded?' she thought, 'Doesn't he know what he's up against or hasn't he still realized the extent the Organisation was capable of?'

Ryu looked up with a slight smile on his face. He faced Conan.

"I thought the same, Kudo." he said, "But before planning anything there are a few things that we have to figure out. And solve."

The others looked at him with confusion. Ryu turned to Rei.

"If I understood well, you said that you had a few problems decoding the files, right?" he said.

"Yes." she replied, "Many of them are written in a strange code. I tried to work it out but all my attempts have finished in dead ends. There's something missing. I don't know.. maybe a.."

"Maybe a key." Ryu finished.

"Yes, a key." she agreed absently. She then looked at him in astonishment, "How do _you_ know that?"

"I'll explain in a minute..." he said and turned to Ai," Listen, you left the Organisation about six months ago, right?"

"Yes, nearly six months ago." she replied, "Why..?"

"When did you stop working on the APTX-4869?" he asked, not letting her finish the question.

"A few days before my flight." she replied. Ai understood that it was useless to ask something since he didn't answer.

"Did you save all the data about the poison on your computer?"

"Yes, all the files regarding the APTX were saved on my computer." Ai replied and frowned slightly, "Where are you getting at? The lab where I was working was destroyed after my escape. All the data are lost."

"What if they weren't?" Ryu asked challengingly.

Conan and Ai looked at him in surprise. What did he mean?

"The processor I put inside your computer." the boy pointed out, "It downloaded files every time I connected to the Organisation's system and I continued to this work till the day I disappeared and came here. But... I just remembered that the first day I checked it out, the processor had somehow downloaded the whole content of your hard disk on my laptop. I didn't pay much attention to it, thinking that it was a small setting mistake I had done and merely reset everything in place so that it wouldn't happen again. As for the data that I had, I didn't bother to it since was just some scientific project you were working on, so I just saved everything on a few cd-Roms."

Conan got up.

"Y.. you mean that you have all the data?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly and a faint of a smile on his face.

A smile spread on Ryu's face.

"Yes, I have all the data regarding the should be enough for you to make the antidote, right?" he asked, turning to Ai.

"Yes, that will be useful." she replied, "Very useful."

"All right, so that resolves our first problem. Now..."

"First problem?" Rei asked.

"Yes." Ryu said, "Kudo's right. We're not going to wait for them to find us. Let's find a way to work without being seen and without endangering ourselves or anyone else. I agree with him. We can't only hide and wait. We are all determined to bring the Organisation down, right?"

Conan, Ai and Rei nodded firmly. They all had a good reason to want it brought down and see its members in jail.

"Good. But before making a plan or anything we have to prepare ourselves well." Ryu stated, "MYSTERY failed because we underestimated them. We can't make the same mistake again."

"What should we do then?" Rei asked, "What are the problems you were mentioning at?"

"The first step is get you two back to your original states." Ryu glanced at Conan and Ai.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Ai retorted, "If we turn back to our original form, they will spot us easily."

"I know that but I think that you two would be more in danger if you stay like this." he said, "And.. no offence meant but.. you wouldn't be very helpful in this form either."

"What do you mean?" Conan asked. There was a trace of annoyance in his voice that Ryu noticed.

"Don't misunderstand my words, Kudo. You and Ai have the knowledge and experience of a scientist and a detective but your bodies are those of two seven-year old children." Ryu stated, "Would you two be able to defend yourselves if we faced one of them?"

"We managed to escape them until now." Conan retorted, "And Agase has given me some useful devices to help me despite this body."

"Huh? What kind of devices?" Ryu asked.

Conan showed him the stun-gun wristwatch, the voice changing bow-tie, the speaker for the bow tie, his earring phone, his high-powered shoes, the radar and transceiver in his glasses and the chewing-gum bug device. He also mentioned his solar-powered skateboard and the flashlight watch.

"You see, I'm not unprepared." he said with a faint hint of pride in his voice, "These can help me deal with them if we ever met again."

Ryu didn't say anything. He just looked curiously and thoughtfully at the strange devices Conan had shown him. He turned around to the old scientist.

"Agase, these things are really brilliant." he said with a smile and the old man swelled with pride. Ryu then turned to Rei.

"Rei, where's my jacket?" he asked.

"It's in the other room." she replied, "Why?"

"Nothing. I just have to take a.. thing." he answered vaguely and got up and went to the other room. Rei looked at him with a slightly puzzled face.

'He's got something in his mind..' she thought.

Ryu came back shortly after, carrying his black leather jacket. He went to the centre of the room and turned to the others.

"Kudo, do you mind coming here?" he asked Conan, "And put on your stun-gun wristwatch, please."

The boy got up. He was a bit confused but he did what the other had said. Rei, Ai and Agase looked at them with confusion too.

"What should I do, Kazama?" Conan asked.

"We will do an experiment." Ryu replied, putting his jacket on, "Think that I'm a member of the Organisation and show me how you'd behave."

Conan looked at him with disbelief. He would have thought that it was a joke if Ryu's face hadn't been so serious.

'All right, I'll show him what I'm able to do.' he thought. 'Now, let's see if I'm not useful.' He looked around and saw his soccer ball nearby. 'Ok...'

Ryu stayed still, hands in his pockets and seemed to wait the other's move.

"Rei-kun, what does Kazama-kun want to do?" Agase asked, a tad worried.

"I think that he only wants to warn Shinichi." she replied. Her gaze fixed on the taller boy, "Ryu knows very well what the Organisation's capable of."

"And Kudo's too self-confident." Ai added, "He needs to realize what he's going against."

Agase looked at the two girls. They seemed to understand what Ryu had in his mind. They also seemed to trust him. He was still a bit confused and he hoped that no one would get hurt.

Suddenly, Conan jumped to his left and kicked his soccer ball at Ryu. He had aimed at his face. While the ball was still flying, he opened his stun-gun wristwatch and pointed it to his target.

'As soon as he gets hit..' Conan thought, 'I'll knock him down with this.'

But he didn't know that Ryu had foreseen all his moves.

As he aimed the stun-gun, he gasped in surprise. The ball had hit the wall and Ryu was not in front of him any more.

"Where th...?" he started to say but then he froze.

Something cold and steely was pointed to the back of his head.

It was a gun.

Then, he heard a metallic "click".

"_BANG!_ Shinichi Kudo's dead. Mission accomplished."

Conan turned around and saw Ryu holding a gun and Rei at his side.

"Do you understand what I meant, Kudo?" he asked and Conan nodded numbly.

"How did you do that?" he managed to ask. "I didn't even see you. You just.. disappeared."

"I avoided the ball and while you were aiming your stun-gun, I slipped behind you, took out the gun and pointed it to you." he said simply, "Don't worry, my gun's unloaded. I didn't want to hurt anyone. It was only a demonstration."

Rei who was right next to him, raised an eyebrow.

"You could have said that before." she remarked with annoyance, "I dashed here to block you when I saw the gun."

"Come on, Rei. I'm not so stupid." he said, "I always keep the charger in a pocket and the gun in the another."

Conan looked at the girl with astonishment.

"Rei, you saw him?" he asked, "And how did you manage to reach us so fast?"

"I have been trained to do these kind of actions fast, 'Ni-chan." she replied, "We both have."

"I see." Conan replied. He felt a hot wave of shame go through him. He had been too self-confident.

"Listen, Kudo, I didn't do this experiment to laugh at you or to exalt my abilities. It was just a demonstration. What I did now was nothing compared to what they can do." Ryu explained, "As I said, we must not underestimate them. It could be our worst and most fatal mistake."

"Yes, I understand." Conan replied. There was a new glint in his eyes: firmness. "I.. we must be prepared."

Ryu nodded and smiled.

"So, no grudges?" he said, hodling out a hand.

Conan shook his hand.

"No grudges." he replied.

Rei smiled and went back to her seat, followed by the boys. Ai and Agase had seen the whole scene and were waiting for them. Ai glanced at Conan as he sat down next to her.

'He has finally realized what dangers he's going to fight.' she thought, 'And as soon as I'll make the antidote, he'll be more determined than ever to bring the Organisation down.'

She felt a slight pain thinking of the antidote.

'As soon as I'll make it, he'll go back to his life.. to Mouri. Our bond will be over.'

She shook her head. It was obvious that everything would end in that way.

_She_ had created the poison that ruined _his_ perfect life.

She _had_ to make the antidote and make him live again. That was it.

"So, the first thing is to get you two back to your normal states." Ryu said, "Next, we must find all the information regarding the Organisation and find out what they're really up to. This means decoding all the files we have brought away from them."

"Good point." Rei remarked, "The problem is how? We need a key to decode them. I don't have it and I'm far from finding it."

Ryu looked at her thoughtfully.

"Well..." he said, "Maybe..."

Rei couldn't believe her ears.

"_You_ have it?" she asked in surprise.

"Maybe.. I'm not sure. I've saved a few files that are.. ehm.. strange."

"Strange?"

"Yes, there are all a series of numbers. I think it's a code but I'm not sure."

"I have to see them immediately."

"Ok."

"Rei's right, Kazama." Conan stated, "When are you going to move here?"

"What?" Ryu exclaimed.

"Well, you have to bring all these files to Haibara and Rei, right?"

"Yes, and you have to help us too." Rei added, "Ai and I will never manage to do everything alone."

"Rei's right." Ai remarked, "There's a lot of work to do and the more qualified help we have the better it will be."

"Yes, and I can help too." Conan said, "If you tell me what to do."

Ryu looked at the three with a puzzled face.

"Wait a minute." he said slowly, "Ok, it's obvious that I'll help you. You don't even have to ask but I didn't understand the rest. What do you mean with when am I moving?"

"Yes, Kazama. When are you going to move here?" Conan asked again.

"You mean live here?" Ryu said. He looked at them with bewilderment. "Have you gone mad?"

The others looked at him with surprise.

"Why?" Rei asked, "What's wrong with that, Ryu?"

He turned to her with a disbelieved expression.

"Listen, I think you misunderstood. I said that we had to work not _live_ together." he said, "We are all targets. It would be deadly dangerous for us to be all together in the same place."

"Then, what do you want to do?" Ai asked.

"Well, from what I've understood, Rei and Ai live here with Agase while Kudo lives with a friend in a detective's agency, right? I think that I should stay in the room I have next to the Beika hotel and continue my job in the bar."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Rei said, "You can't stay alone."

"Come on, I know how to take care of myself and we can meet anytime." he remarked, "If you need me, I can come here with my motorcycle." He looked at her. "I won't disappear again."

Rei blushed and Ai couldn't help but smile. Conan, on the other hand, looked at the two girls with a question mark on his head. He didn't understand what was going on.

"Kazama-kun, I think it's better if you come and stay here, too." Agase stated.

"Agase, I appreciate your help but I don't want to.." Ryu started to say but the scientist stopped him.

"Listen to me, please. You know, I don't think it's a coincidence if you four are here."

The four youngsters turned around to him.

"What do you mean, Professor?" Conan asked with a mocking tone, "We have met each other because of fate or something?"

"Well, why not, Shinichi-kun?" he replied, "You came here to ask for help when you shrunk. Ai-kun came here when she escaped from the Organisation. Rei-kun came here to ask for help when she came from the USA and Kazama-kun... well, he casually met you and came here. Do you really think that it's a coincidence if you four, all involved with the same criminal group, are now here together?"

Conan, Ai, Rei and Ryu looked at each other.

Agase had a point. It seemed that they were destined to meet each other. Four different lives that were entwined by a common fate.

Ryu looked at Agase.

"All right, Professor." he said, "I have to admit that you have a point but there's a problem. I've got a lot of things and I can't stock them up in your house."

"Well, my house has many empty rooms." he said, "You can put all your stuff next door."

Ryu saw that he couldn't refuse anymore. He didn't have any other excuses either.

"Ok, you've convinced me." he said with a smile, "I'll come and stay here."

"All right, Kazama-kun." Agase said.

"Call, me Ryu, Professor. Ryu is enough. I'm not used to be called Kazama."

"All right, Ryu-kun. When are you going to move?"

"Let's see.. what about tomorrow? Yes, tomorrow evening. It will give me time to pack up and inform the bar owners' that I'm leaving the job and the room. Ok?"

"It's all right with me." Agase replied, "Ai-kun, Rei-kun, what about you?"

The girls nodded.

"It's not a problem, Agase." they said.

"Ok, since we've planned everything for the moment, I think I can go." Ryu said, getting up, "It's nearly six o'clock."

Conan jumped when he heard this.

"_WHAT?_ It's already six o'clock?" he said, "Oh God, Ran told me to come home for dinner. She's going to kill me!"

"Don't worry, Kudo. I can drop you there in a few minutes." Ryu said. "We just have to find a helmet for you."

Ai got up and left the room. She returned with a small helmet and handed it to Conan.

"Take this, Kudo. I don't think you'd be very helpful if you crack your head falling from the bike." she said sarcastically.

Conan took the helmet, rolling his eyes.

"Very funny, Haibara." he said with annoyance and both Rei and Ai smirked.

"Rei, where are my clothes?" Ryu asked, "The ones that got soaked yesterday?"

"Wait a minute.." she replied and left the room. She came back with a small bag where the clothes were neatly folded inside.

"Thanks." he said, flashing a smile that made Rei melt. She only managed to nod back.

Conan noticed this and turned to Ai.

"Haibara?" he asked, "What's going on with Rei?"

"Kudo, you are really clueless, you know?" she remarked.

"Well if you could explain for once maybe I can understand."

Ai stared at him. Conan felt his cheeks turn red.

"I don't think that you'd be able to understand women's feelings." she said with a small smile making him turn redder.

"Hey, Kudo are you ready?" Ryu called and Conan headed to the door, feeling more confused than ever.

'_Why the hell do I blush __every time__ I talk to Haibara?_' he thought furiously.

"Goodbye, see you tomorrow." the two boys said as they left.

"Bye."

-:-

Ryu and Conan were at the Mouri's agency a few minutes later.

"Here you are, Kudo." Ryu said, "Well, see you tomorrow."

"Thank you, Kazama." Conan replied.

"Hey, call me Ryu. We'll be working together, right? So, no more formalities."

"Ok, then you must do the same. Call me Conan or.. Shinichi. By the way, we're not only working together. We are also friends."

"All right, Conan." Ryu replied with a smile. "I hope we will be good friends. Bye, then."

"Bye, Ryu."

Conan waited till the motorcycle disappeared from view.

'I hope we will be good friends too, Ryu.' he thought with a smile, 'You're a good guy and we have many things in common.'

It was strange to hear the word _friend_.

After his shrinking he had always tried not to involve anybody in his life because it would have been dangerous. He had only trusted Agase and, afterwards Hattori.

'Well, Hattori had discovered my true identity on his own.' he thought, 'And I _had_ to tell him the truth.'

But now, it was different.

There were Haibara, Rei and now Ryu.

They knew exactly how he felt. That peculiar feeling: the fear of not trusting anyone because it could be dangerous for yourself.. but also for the others.

'Agase is right. It can't be a coincidence if we met.' he thought, 'As a detective, I don't believe in this sort of stuff but, somehow this time it feels different. I can consider them.. friends.. real friends.'

He smiled again and went inside the house.

"I'm back Ran-neechan!" he called and closed the front door behind him.

* * *

Corrections made!

1 From Pyrokid's "Never let you go"

2 Quote from "The adventures of S. Holmes.


	11. Working together

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER:I do not own Detective Conan .

A.N: Minor errors and corrections have been made.

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

_**Chapter 10**_

_Working together  
_

_-:-_

_Kogoroh was in front of the television screen, waiting for Yoko's show with a pair.. pile of beer cans in front of him. _

_Ran was clearing the table from the remaints of dinner and Conan was helping her. The boy turned around when he heard a few shouts from the other room: Kogoroh was cheering Yoko's entrance on stage in his low drunk voice._

_Conan looked pas__t the kitchen door and took in__ the man's state. Messy hair, cigarette in mouth, unshaved, messy shirt, tie undone and the__ room was__ full of smell of alcohol min__gled with smoke._

_As usual. _

_He sighed in disbelief._

_'I feel so sorry for Ran.' he thought, loo__king up at the girl,__ 'No wonder Eri-san left him. Who wouldn't have? to think that he has got famous in these months thanks to me. I wonder how he'll carry on once I'm gone...'_

_This last thing made him realize that he, Conan, might really leave the agency soon. _

_If the data Ryu had casually saved were really about the APTX-4869, Haibara could be able to make the antidote. At that point, he would return to be himself again. _

_Shinichi Kudo would be back while Conan Edogawa would have disappeared the same way he had mysteriously appeared._

_'I'll have to find a way to tell this to Ran.' he thought, 'She really cares a lot for Conan.'_

"Conan-kun?"

_"Yes, Ran-neechan?" he said, snapping out of his thoughts, and turning towards the girl._

_"Why are you always down at Agase's house in this days?" she asked._

_"Er.. It's just... that.." he stammered and quickly came up with an answer., "He just shows me his new inventions."_

_Ran finished to wash the last plate and dried her hands. She looked down at him with a suspiciou__s face __and with her arms folded._

_"You're not hiding me anything, right?"_

_"What? No, Ran-neechan. What should I hide?" he said in his best 'childish-innocent' voice, but his mind was racing furiously._

_'She suspects something! What am I going to do now? I can't tell her of Rei or Ryu!' he thought, getting frantic, 'How am I going to get out of this?'_

_Suddenly, Ran began to laugh and Conan looked at her with surprise._

_"Don't worry, Conan-kun." she said, smiling at the now astonished and not worried boy, "I was just joking. I know you would never hide me anything."_

_The statement hit Conan deeply._

_"Of course, Ran-neechan." he replied, smiling in his childish way as he felt a wave of guilt in the pit of his stomach. He had just realised an uncomfortable truth._

_Conan had never been sincere with Ran._

_Everything he had told her about himself was a lie. His name, his parents and his life, if he could_ _call it like that. Everything. _

_And even when he showed up as Shinichi, he wasn't honest with her either. There always lies. _

_Only lies._

_Ran didn't seem to notice his inner struggle._

_"Are you sure that you're going to Agase's house only to see his inventions and not to see.. a certain person?" she asked with a teasing hint in her voice._

_"What?" Conan asked, looking up with a puzzled face._

_"Well, there _is_ a cute little girl living with Agase now, right? I noticed that you've been visiting his house more often since her arrival." Ran looked at him knowingly, "Let__ me guess? __ You have a crush on Ai-kun, right?"_

_The boy turned the deepest shade of red pos__sible._

_"Wha.. what?" he stuttered, "N.. no, I'm not.. love.. Haibara.."_

_Ran laughed again._

_"Oh, how cute. You're blushing!" she said This made the boy turn eve__n redder if that was physically possible. _

_After a couple of minutes, she had mercy of him._

_"Come on, Conan-kun." Ran said, heading to her room, "It's late. We hav__e__ school tomorrow." _

_As they walked to their rooms, the girl stopped at her door._

_"Goodnight and sleep well, Conan-kun" she said with a smile to boy._

_"Goodnight, Ran-neechan." he replied and went to his room, closing the door aft__er he heard Ran close her own._

_'First Rei...' he thought as cha__nged his clothes,__ 'And now Ran..'_

_"Am I really falling for Haibara?" he whispered._

_No one answered his question._

_Nevertheless, he blushed and then, he went to sleep._

-:-

Conan stole a glance at the girl and went back to his reading. It seemd that the background racket didn't seem to reach him.

Mornings in class 1-B were always chaotic.

Some children chatted and laughed loudly, some were trading cards of their favourite cartoon hero and a group sitting at the back of the class was desperately copying the day's homework. They were carefree and happy as every kid of their age.

Only two didn't join the general mayhem.

They were sitting at their desk, reading silently as usual.

Conan turned a page of his novel and, casually glanced at Ai. Red lines appeared on his face as he remembered what had happened the night before when he had gone back at the Mouri's agency.

His musings had gone on during the minutes before he finally fell asleep.

He realised that he wasn't too oblivious to the awkward situation he found himself in. He had noticed this a few weeks before Rei's arrival.

He found himself staring at Haibara for no reason, at least a few times during the school hours. He didn't bother to think about the reason behind his action. All he cared about was looking at the cool, intelligent girl next to him. It made himself... pleased for the day.

'Am I really falling for Haibara?' he thought again.

"Kudo, do you want to ask me something or are you just going to keep your eyes fixed on me for the whole day?" Ai asked without taking her eyes off her magazine. There was a faint trace of annoyance in her tone.

Conan nearly jumped out of his chair. He didn't think she had noticed him stare.

"Er.. it's nothing." he replied, going back to his novel, "Sorry."

Ai glanced at him and then turned back to the page she was reading, shaking her head.

'I wonder what's going on with him?' she thought, 'He's been behaving strangely in the past weeks.'

She had had felt his stare many times and every time their eyes met, he would turn around pretending to look at something else or just mutter a quick apology, blushing slightly.

She felt both pleased and uncomfortable under his piercing gaze. He had those instinctive eyes of a detective that could look right through you as though you were made of glass and the simple thought that he had some kind of interest on her made her feel a strange, uncomfortably warm and pleasurable feeling.

'Who do I want to fool?' she thought, 'His heart's already taken. I am just the one that will make him go back to his life. Nothing else. Maybe I am also a friend for him.'

Ai nearly laughed at herself. How could she even think that he liked her in the same way she cared for him. He had Mouri and he didn't need anyone else.

She remembered what Professor had said the day before: fate had brought them all together.

Kudo, Rei, Ryu and herself had met because they were involved with the Organisation. Different lives entwined because of a common fate. Maybe, it was also because of fate that she had to fall in love with someone that she could never have..

"Haibara?"

Ai turned to her right.

"You've decided to speak at last, Kudo." she remarked sarcastically.

He arched an eyebrow.

"Strange sentence coming from you, Haibara." he stated, "By the way, did Rei tell you when we're going to pick up Ryu?"

"This evening around five o'clock." she replied, "He said that he finished working at that time."

"Ok, but do you know where this bar is?"

"Ryu gave Rei all the details when he called. Yes, he called this morning." she added, guessing Conan's next question, "He said that he wrote down Agase's number before leaving yesterday."

"Oh, all right." he said.

Just then the teacher entered and all the kids got back to their places.

Conan sighed, putting his novel away.

Another day as a first grader had began.

* * *

Conan and Ai were walking together to Agase's house.

They had to make up an excuse to tell the Detective Boys who had invited them to go to the park and play together. Every now and then, they controlled if the kids were following them.

"Those kids' imagination doesn't have limits." Conan said, looking back for the fifth time, "We said that we had some work to do and they immediately thought that we had to solve some case or find some treasure without them."

"It's your fault, Kudo. You shouldn't have solved all those cases with them around." Ai said, "It made them think that they had detective skills, too." The boy grimaced. "However, as soon as you.. we will turn back to ourselves, we'll have to keep an eye on them. They will surely get in trouble, investigating on their own."

Conan looked up at her: this was another thing he had forgotten.

If they turned back to their real state, they couldn't stay with the little kids anymore.

He felt sad at the thought. Even though they were annoying at times, Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko were his friends. Friends with whom he had enjoyed himself.

'They will miss me even more than Ran.' he thought.

Ai was thinking on the same lines.

That three kids had given her something that she had never had before: friendship. Pure and innocent friendship. She owed them a lot.

The two continued to walk silently. Agase's house was getting closer.

"Haibara?"

"Yes?" she replied, turning to him.

"If the data Ryu has found are really about the APTX, how much will it take you to prepare the antidote?" Conan asked, "The definitive one?"

"I can't give you an exact date but I think it should take one or two months between the preparation and the testing." she answered in her usual flat-tone. Deep inside her, under the cool façade, it hurt to think that the bond between them would probably end when the antidote was ready.

"I see." he said shortly.

They reached Agase's house and rang the bell but nobody opened. They waited a couple of minutes but it seemed that no one was in the house. Conan and Ai looked at each other.

"Did Rei or Agase tell you that they were going out?" he asked but she shook her head.

"No, Agase didn't say anything." she replied, "And Rei.. well, she never left the house since her arrival."

"Where are they then?"

They both started to feel uneasy. What if one of _them_ had come and...

Suddenly, they heard a car approaching. They turned in unison.

It was Agase's car. Conan and Ai sighed in relief and went towards it.

"Professor, you could have left a note to tell us that you were out." Conan remarked, "We thought something had happened and.. " He stopped when he saw who the driver was.

"Sorry but I thought I'd be back before you two came here." Rei said, closing the car's door. She looked down and noticed the surprised expression on their faces.

"Are you two all right?" she asked, "I didn't want to make you worry: I just went to get the gas tank filled up and took the wrong way coming back. I don't know all the streets of the block very well. Mind you, I've forgotten most of them."

"Rei since when do you know how to drive?" Conan asked at last, managing to put a few words together.

"So this was the problem." she said, understanding, "I took my driving licence a year ago with Ryu and Matt." She looked at the two with a slight smile on her face. "By the way, shall we go? Ryu gave me the address but I still have to figure out where that bar is. You must show me the way."

Conan and Ai nodded and they all went in the car.

"Rei, where's Agase?" Ai asked as they were going.

"He told me that he had to buy a few for his new invention and also something for dinner. He said that he wanted to prepare something special for Ryu's arrival." she replied smiling slightly as she did a manoeouvre. "Professor hasn't changed a bit in these years. He's still kind and helpful with everyon. And he's always working on one of his inventions."

"Yeah, his great inventions." Conan remarked sarcastically.

"Come on Shinichi, the devices he gave you are brilliant. And you also said that they have helped you many times"

"Well, his inventions are great _now_. But what about that transceiver-pen...?" he retorted with a frown. Rei stifled a laugh.

Ai looked at them with slight curiosity, wondering what they were talking about and Rei noticed it through the rear view mirror.

"While I was here in Japan, three years ago, Agase was working on a special pen with a transceiver built-in. He wanted it to work as a radio but it also had to write as a normal pen." she explained, "One day, while we were both down at his house, he asked Shinichi to try the pen and see if it worked and when he tried…well, the transceiver worked perfectly but the pen didn't."

"Yes when I bent down to write, the refill burst and I got showered with ink." Conan muttered, "Green ink"

The thought of Shinichi Kudo covered in green ink nearly made Ai laugh out, but she controlled herself and only snickered.

"Well, accidents can happen." Rei said, hiding a smile with difficulty, "His inventions work perfectly now."

"Yes, they are really useful now." he agreed. Then, he turned to the girls. "Hey, don't tell this to Agase or he'll start to show off and, worst of all, he'll start to ask me to experiment all his new inventions."

Conan grimaced at the thoguht and the two girls couldn't help but snicker.

In the meanwhile, a certain old scientist was shopping in a supermarket. He sneezed suddenly.

'I wonder who's talking about me?' he thought, pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket.

-:-

Conan, Ai and Rei reached the Beika Hotel after twenty minutes.

Rei parked the car and they all got out.

"So, where's the place, Rei?" Conan asked, looking around.

"Ryu said that it's a bar behind the hotel and it's called... ehm.. "Queen of hearts"." she replied and looked at the time, "Well, it's nearly five o'clock. Let's find that place soon."

They walked around, trying to spot the bar but it wasn't as easy as they thought. There were many bars and cafés on that street.

'If only we had a clue..' Rei thought, looking around and avoiding to bump into two girls that were talking to each other. She overheard a bit of their conversation.

"He's gorgeous, isn't he?"

"Yes! If I had known that "Queen's" had such a cute waiter, I would have gone there everyday."

"Me too. Too bad that he has to leave today."

"Yeah."

They both sighed.

Rei stopped and watched the two walk away. She then looked down at Conan and Ai.

"Did you hear that?" she asked. "Cute waiter.."

"That works at "Queen's".." Ai said.

"And that leaves today." Conan finished.

"It's him." Rei stated.

They looked around and noticed a crowd of girls in front of a bar on their left. They looked at each other and walked towards it. Rei stopped before going in and turned to Conan and Ai.

"Guys, one last thing. Everyone here knows Ryu as Ryu Misaki so be careful when you call him all right?" she said and the other two nodded.

They were greeted by a young man at the counter, probably one or two years older than them. He smiled at them apologetically.

"Welcome to the Queen of hearts." he said, "I'm sorry but you will have to wait to get a table. We're full as you can see."

The three looked behind him and saw that the bar was full of people.. no, full of _girls_. There was a young waitress running through the tables, getting orders but they couldn't see Ryu anywhere.

"Excuse, we're looking for Ryu Misaki." Rei said, "He works here, doesn't he?"

The man looked up and got to his feet. The three noticed that he had a pair of crutches next to him.

"Misaki-kun? Yes, he works here. He should be around, taking or bringing the orders." he said, "Who are you?"

"Oh, sorry. My name's Rei and these are Conan and Ai." she replied, gesturing to the kids, "We're here to help Ryu pack up his things and take them away."

"Oh, right. He mentioned that some of his friends would have come. By the way, I am Tetsu Oshino and this is our family's bar."

"Pleased to meet you, Tetsu-san." the three said.

"Pleased to meet you too." he replied with a smile, "Now, let's see where Misaki-kun's gone." He looked around. "He might be in the kitchen with my parents.. Hold on... Hey, Shizuka!"

The waitress turned around and came towards them.

"Yes, Oni-chan?" she asked.

"Where's Misaki-kun?"Tetsu asked.

Shizuka frowned.

"That's the same question that every single girl I've served has asked me." she replied, " Anyway, he's down in the storeroom to get some soft drinks. We've finished all the bottles that we had in the kitchen. Why do you ask?"

"Well, his friends are here to help him pack up. He must have told them to come at this time because there's hardly anyone here but I don't know what's happened today. There's never been so much business."

"It's all because of Misaki-kun's leaving. Everyone has come to see him for the last time." Shizuka replied with a bit of annoyance.

She glanced at Conan, Ai and, then at Rei, studying her from head to foot. Rei felt the rather uncomfortable feeling of being x-rayed with a stare. She cleared her throat.

"I am Rei and these are Conan and Ai." she said, "Pleased to meet you."

"I am Shizuka Oshino. Pleased to meet you." she replied, not meaning the last statement at all.

Conan arched an eyebrow, noticing the coolness in her tone but both Ai and Rei had also noticed the jealous glint in her eyes. Ai smirked while Rei groaned inwardly.

'Great!' she thought, 'Another of Ryu's admirers.'

Just then Ryu showed up, carrying a crate of bottles. He went and put them in the kitchen and then noticed them at the entrance. He walked towards them, ignoring the girls from the tables.

"Hi, when did you come?" he asked.

"A few minutes ago." Rei answered.

"I'm sorry but I haven't finished yet. Why don't you sit and order something? I'll try to hurry up." he said with a smile, "I'll pay: order what you like."

"All right, Ryu." Rei said with a smile and Conan and Ai nodded.

Shizuka had been watching them and she frowned seeing how close Ryu and Rei seemed to be.

"Excuse me but I have to go to work." she said and left them at the entrance.

Ryu looked slightly surprised by her behaviour.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked Tetsu but he just shrugged.

Rei shook her head in disbelief.

"Here's another clueless one." she muttered.

"What?" Ryu asked, turning to her.

"Nothing." she replied and looked down at Ai, who had heard her. The little girl smiled. They walked to a small table at the back of the bar and sat down. Ryu took their orders quickly.

"I'll be back in a minute." he said, flashing his smile to them and all the other customers, well all the other girls shot jealous glares to Rei (The other two were just kids and they didn't count).

"Oh God, it will be a miracle if I leave this place alive.." Rei muttered under her breath noticing what was going on. Ai smirked and Conan looked at the two with confusion.

"Here you are." Ryu said, a few minutes later carrying a tray with their coffees.

"You're good at this, you know?" Rei said, "Ever thought of doing this work permanently?"

"Very funny, Rei." he replied with annoyance. The girl smirked.

"By the way, Ryu..." she stated, "You're the usual heart-throb: all these girls are here for you. It's good to see that some things don't change."

Ryu grimaced.

"I don't how long I can stand it." he said, "I've never been in such an embarrassing situation."

"Well, you don't look that embarrassed." Ai remarked.

"I know how to act." he replied, smiling slightly.

_"Misaki-kun! Come here, the orders are ready!"_

Ryu turned around.

"I'm coming!" he called and quickly turned to the others. "I'll try to be quick; just wait a bit, please."

"How does he do that?" Conan wondered loudly once Ryu was out of sight.

"Does what?" Rei asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Turn around when he's called with his other names and also control his emotions so much."

"He knows how to act."

"That's what he says too. But.. what's his true character, then?"

"Yesterday, he was himself with us. He only manages to change a bit when he has to be another person. It isn't a great change of character, just some tweaking here and there on your own personality." Rei looked at Conan and Ai, "You're doing the same after all, aren't you? Being yourself only with some people and acting to be different with the rest."

The two nodded. She was right.

"Rei, how did you and Ryu meet?" Ai asked after a moment of silence.

"How we met?" she repeated, mildly surprised by the sudden question. "Well, we met down in New York during our first year at university. We bumped into each other. Literally." She smiled. "And we found out that we attended physics and computer basis together. We became friends pretty soon. We were both the youngest in our year, among the few Japanese in the campus and both Sherlock Holmes fan. Shortly after, Ryu introduced me to Matt and the three of us started to go out together whenever we didn't have classes or other things to do. Sometimes, we went out with other fellow students but it didn't happen often. It was mostly the three of us. They became the only real friends I had there. The other students treated me differently either because I was too young or because of Ryu and Matt."

"Why?" Conan asked confused.

Rei looked at him.

"Come on, it had been the same when we went to school together. Ryu and Matt were very popular at college. You know, good looking, brilliant, youngest final year students. Girls just swarmed around them and they didn't really like that I went out with the boys all the time." she explained with annoyance, "You don't know how many times I've being hassled by them."

_"Look that we were in the same position, too."_

Rei, Ai and Conan looked up and saw Ryu standing in front of them.

"Sorry?" Rei said.

"Matt and I were in your same awkward situation." He repeated, "You were pretty popular too, remember? And since you always rejected every admirer, all the boys at college started to think that you dated me or Matt." Ryu grimaced, "You don't know how many times _we_ were hassled by them."

"Yeah, that's true. I've been confronted by your admirers too when you were here." Conan added.

"See, Rei. Your charm makes good impression on boys, you reject them and they come and confront us." Ryu said, pointing to Conan and himself. He put on a fake suffering face, "We're the ones that pay at the end."

Ai snickered while Conan chuckled. Rei, on the other hand, arched an eyebrow.

"Oh, poor thing." she remarked sarcastically, making Ryu smile.

"By the way, Ryu have you finished?" Conan asked.

"No, I'm sorry. I've never seen so many people here. I don't even know _if_ I'll finish." he replied.

"Well, they're here for you." Rei remarked.

"Good point." he stated, "I'd like to know _how_ they found out that I'm leaving today. What are they? Secret agents or something? Even FBI doesn't have such a spy network!"

His look of disbelief made the others stifle a laugh.

Just then, Shizuka came to their table.

"Misaki-kun, can you help me please? I can't handle all the orders alone." she said, "Your friends can wait, can't they?"

She said this looking straight at Rei and with a frosty expression.

Ryu finally realized what was going on and mentally slapped himself for having been so blind.

'Shizuka-san... likes me?' he thought, 'And she's jealous of Rei! It's better if I do something.'

"Sure, I'm coming." he said quickly but he turned as Rei got up.

"Er- do you need any help?" she asked.

Shizuka looked at her with astonishment.

"You want to serve at the tables?" she asked. Rei nodded.

"Rei, wait it's not necessary.." Ryu began to say, noticing the glare on the other girl's face but Rei stopped him.

"No, really. It's not a problem and it will be better than sitting down without doing anything." she remarked.

"Well, why not?" Shizuka said, making Ryu look at her in disbelief, "I'll go and tell my parents. By the way, you need to wear something white or the customers will not see that you're a waiter."

She pointed to herself and to Ryu. Shizuka was wearing a white waitress uniform while Ryu had a white shirt over his blue jeans. She was sure that Rei wouldn't be able to do the work well.

'Let's see what she'll do when she writes down the orders with mistakes or takes the wrong order to the tables..' she thought, 'I made thousands of mistakes the first days I worked.'

As soon as Shizuka left, Ryu faced Rei.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked her.

"Don't you understand?" she asked in return.

A few thoughts leapt to his mind.

'Because of Shizuka-san's behaviour? No, Rei's not the type that accepts this kind of.. _challenges_. Then what?'

He looked at her and shook his head.

"I haven't got a clue..." he said at the end.

Rei sighed and looked down at Conan.

"Shinichi, when do you have to stay at the Mouris place?" she asked.

"What? Well... between six and seven o'clock." he replied in puzzlement.

"You can't be late, right?"

"No, I can't." he said with a frown, "Ran's getting suspicious of my often visits to Agase's house."

Rei turned to Ryu.

"You see, we three, Ai, you and me, can go home late if it's necessary but Shinichi can't." she explained, "And the last thing we need is getting Mouri suspicious. She could start asking questions or worse limit his coming to our place. That would be a problem. We need Shinichi's help as well."

Ryu, Ai and Conan looked surprised of her reasoning.

"Well, you're right, Rei." Ryu agreed with a nod, "I understand that you want to help so that we can hurry up but.. do you know how to serve at the tables and take the orders?"

"I've been looking at you while you were around the tables and I've done a couple of jobs as a waitress in US." she replied, "I think I could manage to do it without mistakes."

"And the white clothes?"

"Don't worry."

She took off her denim-jacket and put it on her chair. Ryu felt a blush creep on his cheeks at the flattering way her white blouse and pair of blue jeans fit her.

Rei took off her baseball cap, making her hair tumble back down on her shoulders and put it on Conan's head.

"Do you two mind staying here?" she asked, "We'll try to be quick."

"Don't worry, Rei." Ai replied while Conan nodded.

Rei turned around, casually brushing her bangs out of her eyes.

"What shall I do?" she asked Ryu but he didn't answer. The boy was still staring at her.

"Uhm.. Ryu? Ryu?" Rei called waving her hand in front of Ryu's face.

This made him come back to senses.

"Huh? What?.. Oh, yes, go to the counter." he said, "Tetsu-san will explain you everything."

She nodded and walked to the counter.

Ryu looked down at Conan.

"Has she always been so resolute?" he asked.

Conan grinned.

"Yes, always, and I don't think she'll change." he said.

Ryu looked at Rei again and a smile crept on his face. Conan noticed it and then, at last, something clicked in his mind.

"Ryu-nichan, shouldn't you be working?" Ai asked, hiding a smile.

The boy nearly jumped up at these words.

"Er.. yes, it's better if I go." he mumbled embaressedly.

She couldn't help but smile when she saw him go away.

"Haibara?" Conan said thoughtfully.

"Yes?" she said and turned around to him.

"Is it possible that Ryu and Rei like each other?"

"Well, you're improving, Kudo." she replied," I thought you would have never noticed it."

"So, am I right or wrong?" he asked, ignoring her sarcasm

"I'm not sure but I've thought the same too." she replied, "At least that's what it seems judging by the way they talk about one another."

True to her word, she didn't mention her talk with Rei.

"Oh, I see." he said and looked around to see what was going on.

There were still a lot of people and Ryu, Shizuka and Rei were rushing up and down, taking and bringing orders. Conan's stare was fixed on Rei. He smiled seeing how she had changed in three years. Ai noticed his smile.

"Why are you smiling?" she asked with her casual tone but it hid a hint of curiosity that Conan noticed immediately.

"I was only thinking that Rei has changed in these three years. It's the first time that I seen her being so spontaneous with somebody that isn't either me, my parents or Agase. When we went to school together, she was always gentle with everyone but she didn't seem to trust the others enough. She didn't make friends with anyone besides me. But now, she seems different.. more confident. I think it's thanks to Ryu and to you."

"Me? What did I do?" Ai asked with a bit surprised, "I met her only two weeks ago."

"Yes, I know but she talks with you, right?" he remarked, turning to her, "For all I know, you're the only friend, _female_ friend, that Rei has. I think that she can talk to you about things that she can't tell to me or to Ryu."

"Well, you have surprised me Kudo. I didn't think that you could have understood this."

Conan frowned.

"Who do you think I am?" he asked, "A stupid fool or worse? I always notice what happens around me. It's the first requirement for a good detective."

'Yes, you notice all except...' she thought.

"Baka." she whispered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Speaking of school, how were you at college, Haibara?" he asked curiously after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean?" she asked, looking up.

"Not your grades. I know you went brilliantly well. The rest of it.. I don't know.. your friends."

Ai thought it over.

She always sat alone, near the top of the seats, where little people would choose to sit.

She was always quiet, waiting for the lesson to begin. Maybe it was for her age: she was the youngest one to be studying in the university, yet one of the cleverest ones there.

Maybe it was her personality: she was so quiet and independent that no one ever got near her. But it seemed as though she didn't expect anyone to ever get close to her either. (1)

"There isn't much to say, Kudo." she said shortly, "By the way, why did you ask?"

"I was just curious." he replied with a shrug. "You know nearly everything about me while I.. well, I don't know much about you. That's all." He turned to her and smiled slightly. "Just curiosity."

Ai felt her cheeks redden and lowered her head so that her hair could hide her face. He had taken her by surprise even though what he said was true. She glanced at him.

'Shinichi Kudo: seventeen years old.' she thought, 'Attends second class at Teitan High School. Fanatic of soccer and Sherlock Holmes. Famous detective of great skills, helps the police and very popular among girls.'

She smiled slightly.

"Well, that's not correct." she said, "You _do_ know a few things about me."

"Yes, I know but it's still little compared to what you know about me."

Ai turned around and looked at him.

"How come you're suddenly so interested to know the details of my life, Kudo?" she asked.

Conan looked up and saw her light blue eyes fixed on him. He felt a strange jolt in the stomach and a wave of heat on his face. He suddenly remembered what Rei and Ran had told him the day before.

_"Do you have a crush on Ai?"_

He blushed.

"I was just curious." he replied, "Nothing else, Haibara."

Ai shrugged and sipped her coffee, not noticing that the boy was glancing at her with different feelings storming in his heart.

-:-

It was nearly a quarter to six when all the customers left the bar.

Rei's help had been precious because Shizuka and Ryu would have never managed to do everything alone. She worked well and, much to Shizuka's disappointment, she didn't do any mistake. When the last customers left, Ryu sighed with relief.

"Finished at last." he said and then turned to Rei who was standing next to him, "I think we can go and pack my things, now."

Rei nodded and went to their table.

"Conan, Ai, we can go." she said, picking up her jacket. The two kids got up and followed her.

Ryu, in the meanwhile, was saying goodbye to the Oshinos. Mr and Mrs Oshino came out of the kitchen while Tetsu and Shizuka stood by the counter. They all had to stay to clear up.

"Oshino-san, I don't know how to thank you for have given me a room and a job when I moved here." Ryu said, "And I also apologize for my sudden leave but my friends have offered to make me stay with them." He gestured to Conan, Ai and Rei.

Mr. Oshino just shook his head.

"Don't worry, Misaki-kun." he remarked, "You have already helped us enough: if it wasn't for you, we could have never managed to handle the work in the bar after Tetsu broke his leg. We were a waiter short and you offered to help even if the pay was low."

"Yes, Shizuka couldn't have done everything alone." Mrs. Oshino added, "As for the room, it has been a pleasure to let you stay with us. You were the perfect guest." Then she turned to Rei. "We have to thank you, too, my dear. You helped us and we don't even know your name."

"Oh, sorry. I forgot to introduce you. Well, these are Rei, Ai and Conan." Ryu said, pointing to each when he said their names.

"Well, Rei-kun, thank you for your help." Mrs Oshino said.

"No, I didn't do much." she answered with a smile. "I just helped a bit."

Tetsu came towards them on his crutches.

"A bit?" he said in disbelief, "We have never had so much business in a day! All the customers that we had today were here either for Misaki-kun or for you. You two are real heart-throbs, do you know that?"

Both Ryu and Rei laughed with embarrassment while Conan and Ai smirked.

"By the way, Rei-kun.." Mrs Oshino turned to Rei, "Are you Misaki-kun's girlfriend or are you two relatives? You two look awfully alike as in taste in clothing and personality."

Rei, taken back by the the question, quickly turned her head from side to side, face glowing red.

"No... No... We're just friends..." she stammered and turned to Ryu who had blushed deeply, too.

Mr. Oshino chuckled.

"Well, this is the first time I've ever seen Misaki-kun get embarrassed. Are you sure there's nothing between you two?" he asked teasingly, making the two teenagers blush even more.

"What about these two kids? Are they your younger brother and sister?" Tetsu asked, "The little girl looks a lot like you, Misaki-kun while the little boy's like you, Rei-kun."

Rei and Ryu looked at Conan and Ai with a small smile on their faces.

"Yes, we're like brother and sister." they replied and the two kids smiled.

At last, they headed to the Oshinos house to get Ryu's things. It was right next to the bar. They went in and headed to Ryu's room: it was small but cosy. There was a large sports bag on the bed and three unsealed cardboard boxes in a corner. There was also a guitar on the table next to the motorcycle helmet.

"Ryu, how did you bring all this from America? I managed to bring only a bag like that and nothing else." " Rei asked, after having looked around and pointing to the bag on the bed.

"I did the same too." he replied, "I bought most of the things here."

Ryu walked to the table, opened a drawer and took out a roll of scotch. He looked around the room.

"Well, all the clothes are in the bag. The rest in the boxes.." he said to himself, "Then..oh, yes.. _that_. Ai, can you lock the door, please?"

As soon as she did so, he bent down and took a metallic box, the size of a brief case, from under the bed. Conan, Ai and Rei looked at him with curiosity.

"When I escaped, I managed to take all the things I had in my.. in Martini's apartment." Ryu explained, noticing the other's looks, "All the clothes, notes, and, most important of all, my work."

He opened the metal box and the others approached him.

Inside the box were screwdrivers, cutters, wires, a box of screws, lots of floppy disks and cd-Roms and, covered in a plastic covering, a computer hard disk and a transparent Plexiglas box full of what seemed to be small buttons or sequins.

"Ryu, is that..?" Rei asked pointing to the last object.

"My father's project." he remarked with a nod, "The invisible devices that can show where the subject is and that can also let you hear what he says." He took one of the devices out of the box. It was extremely small and transparent.

Conan now understood why the Organisation was so interested on them. Nobody would notice one of that devices. Ryu put the device away and closed the box.

"It's better if I finish packing." he said, "We're late and it's my fault."

"Ryu, what's inside those boxes?" Conan asked, pointing to the corner

"A printer, a scanner, my laptop, notepads and books and also the radar I'm working on." he replied.

"The _what_ you are working on?" Rei asked.

"The radar." he said and smirked, seeing her confused face. "Well, it's a thing I decided to do after I escaped. Since I couldn't contact anyone once I was here and since I didn't want to wait without doing anything, besides trying to decode the files and seeing if anything strange happened, I started to work on a radar that could be linked to a computer or a laptop and that could work well with the devices. It's a bit like the radar that Conan has got in his glasses with the difference that mine is more far-reaching."

"Ryu, have you ever slept in these months or have you only worked night and day?" Rei asked and Ryu laughed.

"Ryu, can I ask you a question?" Ai asked.

"Sure." he said, turning to her.

"How did you buy all these things?" she asked, looking inside the unsealed boxes, "It must have been pretty expensive."

"Well, not too much. I found the printer and the scanner in a store at a cheap price. Maybe the laptop was the only thing that was really expensive... and the parts for the radar, too."

"I think she meant how you paid for them." Conan remarked dryly.

"Oh.. Before leaving America, I took all the money I had saved till that moment and I also took all the money that was in a account my parents had opened for me. I didn't know how much time I would have lived in the shadows so I decided to take all the money I could find at the moment. This work, besides being a good way to hide, was also a way to earn."

"You decided to manage in some way." Rei said with a smile, "As usual."

"Well, I _had_ to." he replied, "I didn't think that I would have found you here, Rei or that I would have met Conan and Ai. I thought that I had to work alone and thought of a way to do everything on my own. By the way, speaking of work.." Ryu got up and started to rummage in one of the cardboard boxes. The other three shared a puzzled look. At last, it seemed that the boy found what he was looking for because he turned around.

"Conan? Ai? How much do you know about computering?" he asked.

"Hardly anything." Conan replied sincerely.

"Not much." Ai said.

"Ok, then these might help you." Ryu said, tossing them two books. "Since you have to help us, you must have a general idea of computering and those are the books I used to study back in my first year of university."

"Thanks, Ryu." they replied. They were both determined not to be a burden for Rei during her work and it seemed that Ryu had understood how they felt and had wanted to help them.

"Study hard." he said with a smile.

"Ryu, when did you start playing again?" Rei asked, touching the guitar.

"The Oshinos gave me that." he said, "They found out that I liked music and that I knew how to play some instruments. And so, since no one touched that guitar, they gave it to me."

"You can play the guitar?" Ai asked.

"Yes, and also other stringed instruments. My mother was a music teacher and she taught me how to play them. By the way, Rei plays the violin so I'm not the only musician here."

"We're in three." Rei remarked, "Ai plays the piano."

"Really?" Conan asked, turning to Ai. He didn't know that.

"Yes." she replied, smirking at his astonished face, "It's one of the few frivolous activities I've done in my childhood."

"What about you, Conan?" Ryu asked and Rei and Ai stifled a laugh. He turned around to them in confusion, "What did I say?"

"Shinichi's tone-deaf. He and music are incompatible." Rei said.

Conan frowned.

"Ok, I don't know how to play or sing but I like to listen to music." he retorted with a bit of annoyance.

"Why don't you try to learn?" Ryu asked.

Conan sweat dropped.

"Better not." he said.

"Why not? My mother used to say that if you really want to, you can do anything. She said that it's impossible to do everything perfectly but it's possible to do a bit of everything well. That's what I always try to do. It's only willpower."

"I'll think it over." Conan replied.

"Ok, I think we've talked too much." Ryu said, standing up. "We must hurry or it will be dark when we finish." He tossed the roll of scotch in air and then caught it in mid air. "Shall we start?"

The others nodded and they all set to work.

It was a quarter past six when they finished to pack up Ryu's things and put them in Agase's car. They said goodbye to the Oshinos and left: Conan, Ai and Rei on the car, Ryu on his motorbike. They dropped Conan close to the Mouri's and then went to Agase's place.

* * *

"Good morning, Haibara-san!" Mitsuhiko and Genta said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Ai-chan!" Ayumi chirped happily.

"Good morning." the miniature chemist replied in her usual flat tone. She glanced at her side and saw Conan who looked pretty tired.

'I wonder what's happened to him?' she thought.

The five children walked to school. Three talking loudly as usual while the other two trailed behind, silently. Conan stifled a yawn.

"You look tired, Kudo." Ai stated.

"Huh? No, I'm not." he said shortly and Ai stared at him. Under her piercing gaze, Conan couldn't bring himself to lie to her. "Oh, all right. I was reading that text book Ryu gave us and I went to sleep late."

"Since when are you so interested in computering?" she asked.

"Since I'm the only one that doesn't understand a thing of it." he replied, ignoring her sarcasm, "Rei and Ryu are experts and you said that you know a few things. I want to help you three with that files and I don't want to be a burden. That's why I want to learn quickly."

Ai looked at him.

'Typical of Shinichi Kudo.' she thought, 'The moment he heard that there was a way to bring down the Organisation, he decided that he'd do anything to help Rei and Ryu.'

"What about you, Haibara?" the boy asked, looking at her. "You look tired, too."

"Aww... caring for me, Kudo?" she asked mockingly while watching him blush. "Just kidding. I went to sleep late too but for a different reason from yours. I helped Ryu and Rei with their things."

"Oh, right. Did Ryu put his things in my house?"

"Yes, he only took the necessary things and put the rest in your house but I think it will be a temporary arrangement."

"Why?"

"We're in four now and there's not a lot of space so Agase has decided to empty the room where he kept all his old inventions and give it to me and Rei while Ryu would move in Agase's room. In this way, Rei and Ryu can keep all their things in their rooms. It would be more practical for them, instead of going back and forth from your house to Agase's house."

"I see. When will they do that?"

"Probably, today. Rei and Ryu will be helping Agase this morning. By the way, Kudo, they said that they won't start working till our arrival, so you still have time to... learn about computering in class."

"How do you know that I've brought the book with me?" he asked in surprise.

"I know nearly everything about you, Kudo." she replied and smirked, seeing him blush again. Then, she opened her school bag and drew out a magazine.. or at least what seemed like a magazine. Conan looked at it carefully and saw that it was the text book Ryu had given them with a magazine cover on it. He looked at Ai.

"In this way, nobody will notice what I'm reading." she explained.

Conan opened his bag, too. He drew out his text book, disguised as a novel.

"I thought the same, too." he said with a smile, "It seems that we've found something interesting to do in class today."

Ai smiled slightly at him and they walked on to school.

* * *

After waving goodbye, the Detective Boys split to go home. Conan and Ai quickly went to Agase's house and were there a couple of minutes later.

"Welcome back, Ai-kun.", Agase greeted them. "Hello, Shinichi-kun."

"Hello, Professor. Where are Ryu and Rei?" Conan asked.

"They're in the lab. They were waiting for you."

"Thanks, Professor." they said and headed to the lab. As they went in, they noticed a few changes in the room. There was another desk inside and many of Agase's old inventions, all the broken ones, were in a cardboard box that was on top of it.

Rei and Ryu looked up as the two kids came in.

"Hi, how are you doing?" Ryu asked, "We were waiting for you."

"Rei, what's happened in here?" Ai asked, pointing to the new desk.

"It was Agase's idea. He said that we four would probably spend a lot of time working here and that we couldn't use only one desk. Since you and I are already sharing this one, he told us to bring that one here so that Ryu and Shinichi could use it."

"We tried to tell him that we could have managed in someway but he was adamant, saying that we couldn't have worked well." Ryu added, "We gave up at the end."

Conan and Ai smiled slightly, knowing how stubborn Agase could be at times.

"But I have to admit that he was right." Ryu added, "I can keep all my things here in this desk." He had put the printer, the scanner and his laptop on the desk; all his notepads and notebooks were in a drawer while the other was empty. He pointed it to Conan. "This one's yours."

"By the way, Ai, I have taken all our things to the other room." Rei said, turning to the girl. "I took your laptop and brought it here. I thought that it would have been more practical for you."

"Thanks, Rei." Ai replied with a smile.

Ryu got up from his chair.

"Can we start then?" he asked. The others nodded and he took his metal case from under the desk and opened it. "Ok, I have to divide everything... Information from Sherry's hard disk.. here it is. This is for your, Ai." He handed a few cd-Roms to the girl.

Ai took them, feeling nervous. The information necessary for the antidote could be there. Conan felt nervous, too.

"Strange files... here there are. These are for you, Rei." Ryu handed her some floppy disks and a set of cd-Roms. Rei set to work immediately: the key to get all the information was there.

"Information regarding the Organisation that has already been decoded or that is partially decoded. This is our work, Conan." Ryu said, pointing to the hard disk, a dozen of floppy disks and some cd-Roms.

Conan's eyes widened.

"All that stuff?" he asked.

"Yes, and there are also some things in my laptop." he replied, "But don't worry, it's not that hard. Rei will help, too. Have you already read the book I gave you?" Conan nodded and Ryu smiled. "I knew it. By the way, do you have a laptop?"

"No, but I've got a computer at my house."

"Come on, we have to bring it here. You need it to work." Conan nodded and followed him.

"See you in a minute." they said to the girls.

Rei nodded and smiled, seeing how the boys seemed to get along together.

Ai looked at her. There was something she wanted to ask her but there had never been the moment, but now, maybe...

"Rei?"

"Yes?" Rei looked up from her laptop's screen.

"Can I ask you a.. personal question?"

"Sure, tell me everything."

"Why don't you tell Ryu that you like him?"

Rei blushed.

"W.. why do you ask?" she said.

"Well, I think that he likes you, too.. so, I was wondering why you don't just admit it to each other."

"I don't know what he thinks but, for me.. well.. I think I'm afraid."

"Afraid?" Ai looked at her in surprise. "Of what?"

Rei glanced at her.

"Don't misunderstand. I'm not afraid of a rejection." she said, "If he rejected me, I would accept it but I know that something would change in our relationship. Change it forever. I'm afraid of what would happen to our friendship. It's too important for me and I don't want to ruin or loose it." Rei looked at Ai who was staring at her. "I know that I'm acting as a coward but.. I prefer to hide my feelings and stay with him as a friend than loosing him." She smiled slightly, "You understand what I mean, right? Your behaviour with Shinichi is similar to mine with Ryu."

Ai smirked when she heard this.

"Your relationship with Ryu is different. I could never be so natural with Kudo, either for my personality but also for his." she said, "We are friends but in a very detached, cool sort of way."

"Yes, but when one is in trouble, the other helps him out." Rei remarked, "That's what you two did every time you faced a danger. You helped each other. So, there's no difference between our relationships. Ryu and I are only more spontaneous while you two are more introvert. That's all. Friendship means supporting one another. And it's the same for love."

Ai thought this over.

'She might be right, after all.' she mused, 'We.. he always helped me: can we consider each other friends?'

"Since we're talking about it, why don't you tell everything to Shinichi?" Rei asked.

Ai blushed.

"I can't." she said quietly.

Rei looked up with surprise.

'Shinichi gave me the same answer..' she thought.

"Why not?" she asked.

"He already likes another person."

"You mean Mouri?"

"Yes. I don't want to ruin their relationship, so it's better if I keep quiet. I will make the antidote and they will be happy together, at last."

"Is that really what you want?"

"It's my fault if he's in his present condition. All because of the poison I created. The least I can do is make the antidote and give him his life back."

Ai stopped abruptly. It was the first time that she voiced this thought aloud. Rei stared at and a tender look made its way on her face.

'She feels guilty.' she thought, 'And she probably thinks that Shinichi has not forgiven her. But it's not her fault. She has been forced by the Organisation. I know she didn't want to do it.'

Rei was sure that Ai was a good person.

It was something that she couldn't explain. They had met each other only two weeks ago but for some reason, she knew that Ai's cool expression was only a mask, something she had created to protect herself from the darkness that she had faced since she was only a child. It could be instinct or maybe simply observation skills, but Rei had always been able to understand another person's personality with a few looks. And when she met Ai, she knew that she was good. Beneath the cold façade and the silence attitude, she was good.

Rei was sure of that. She had felt the same when she had met Shinichi and Ryu.

"Ai, do you mind if I tell you something?" she asked.

"No."Ai replied, "Tell me."

"I'd be a hypocrite if I told you that I understand how you feel. I don't know and I can't tell you what to do. You will probably find out a way-out yourself but I want to tell you only this one thing. Don't torture yourself for your past. It's not going to change. Think of your present."

Ai nodded slowly. She knew that Rei had understood her feelings.

"I want to tell you something about Shinichi, too." the dark haired girl added, "You know, when he investigates, it seems that he can read the criminals' hearts and minds but when it comes to his own feelings, he gets confused." Rei smiled, "I know him well and he's always been like that. His own heart is an unsolvable mystery to him."

Ai smiled, too.

"Brilliant detective but clueless when it comes to feelings." she said.

"Yes and, believe me, Ryu's not better than him. It seems that we've fallen for two clueless detectives."

The girls looked at each other and muffled a laugh.

Just then, Ryu and Conan came in carrying a computer central unit, a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse and different cables. They both stopped and the door, looked at the girls and raised an eyebrow.

Conan was especially surprised.

'Haibara's laughing?' he thought, 'It's the first time I've seen her laugh since we met.'

"What so funny?" Ryu asked.

"Nothing. Women's talk." Ai and Rei replied together with a smile on their faces. Conan and Ryu looked at each other and shook their heads.

-:-

They spent the rest of the afternoon working in the lab.

Rei and Ai were busy with their own things while Ryu and Conan worked together. Ryu explained Conan what to do. They had to read all the files, save them in different groups in their computers and then try to decode the ones that had not been already translated.

Without damaging them, obviously.

The room was silent, except for the clicks of the mouses, the tapping on the keyboards and the boys' quiet whispering.

_"Damn it!"_

Conan, Ai and Ryu looked up from their computer screens and turned to their sides.

Rei was holding her head with her hands.

Ryu approached her, slightly worried.

"Rei...?" he asked uncertainly, "Is there something wrong?"

"_Yes_." she replied, frustration deep in her voice. Ryu's eyes widened a bit. Conan and Ai were staring at her. What was going on?

Rei seemed to notice the strange silence and looked up. She smiled apologetically, seeing their concerned faces.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be so.. cold." she said,"I'm just... frustrated."

"What's wrong, Rei?" Conan asked, getting closer.

"Problems with those files?" Ai asked, looking over at her screen. She was sitting next her.

"Yes, _this_." she replied, pointing to the screen and the others came closer to her. They saw a page full of numbers.

"What's so special of this file?" Ryu asked, "Nearly all the ones I've given you are like this."

"Yes, I know. I've given a quick look to all of them." she replied, "But I think that this one is the key that I have been looking for. The one that can help us decode all the files easily."

"Really?" Ryu said, taking his chair and sitting at her right. "How can you be so sure?"

"Look at this." Rei picked a notepad that was next to her, flipped a couple of pages and showed it to him. Ryu took it, studying it carefully and Conan and Ai looked at it, too. It was full of notes, written in pencil.

"Oh, I see. So, that's how they did it." he stated, understanding what she meant. He looked up and noticed Conan and Ai's blank look. "Er.. Rei, I think that you'd better explain them. I could make mistakes. You're the expert of the subject."

"Sorry, I forgot." she said, turning to the other two, "You know what programming languages are, right?" Conan and Ai nodded. "Ok, there are many programming languages: Fortran, Basic, Pascal, Perl and many others. Each has a determined set of rules and instructions. A computer programmer has to be careful not to get confused because the instructions are specific. For example, if you write a program in Basic and then you put in an instruction in Pascal, the program will never work."

"You have to be careful not to get mixed-up." Ai remarked.

"Yes, very careful." Rei said, "However, the scientists of the Organisation have found a way to protect their programs from intruders using different languages, especially C."

Conan looked up.

"C?" he asked, "Isn't that a programming language, too?"

"Yes, Shinichi." Rei said, "Seems that you've studied Ryu's book."

"Well, yes, I read about it but.. it doesn't seem so hard. I mean, I studied it a bit and there are only a few things to learn. It should be easy for you, Rei."

"You got the point, Conan." Ryu said, "Language C is the most used and most common of all programming languages. And, as you have remarked, it's also easy to learn."

"Then, what's the problem?"

"It's too flexible." Rei replied and Conan looked at her blankly.

"I'll give you an example." Ryu said, "Let's say that Rei and I have to write a program in C. I don't know -er.. yes.. one that adds numbers together. Well, this simple program can be written in four different ways at least."

"Four different ways to say the same thing?"

"Exactly." Rei said, "In C, you can play with the instructions in every way you like. That's the clever part and most problematic of it. Every programmer can create his own instructions."

"In this way, no one can change your work." Ai remarked.

"Yes, but that's not the main problem." Rei said, "I can understand the programs written in different languages. It's not not hard. I just have to remember the rules of every language. My problem is _this_ file. It's partially written in C and I understand that part, but the rest is.. only a mix of numbers."

She sighed with frustration. Ryu looked at her with a slight smile.

"If _you_ don't understand then we're done." he said, "You're the computer expert."

"What about you?" she asked him.

"Your explanation cleared the confusion I had in my head." he replied, "But I know what to do.."

"Great." she muttered. She glanced at Conan and Ai. "Why don't you two try to see if you can figure it out?"

The kids looked at her as though she had gone mad.

"How can we understand what _you_ don't, Rei?" Ai asked.

"Yes, we didn't study computer science." Conan added.

"That's the point." Rei said, "Maybe this file is written in a way that doesn't have anything to do with my studies. Maybe it's only a code that has to be worked out. Since both Ryu and I haven't understood it, you two could try. Ai with your scientific skills, Shinichi with your detective's ones."

"It's worth a try." Ryu said, nodding. He turned to them, "Come on."

Conan and Ai glanced at each other and set themselves in front of Rei's screen. They could only see numbers everywhere.

"Let's see, the first line is: ." Conan muttered to himself, "What does that mean? Maybe the numbers are the position of the alphabet letters. In that case, it would be: G-e-a-a. No wait, it could be k. Again: G-e-k-d-i-i-a.."

"Wait there's also 0." Ai retorted, hearing him. "That can't be a letter."

"A full stop then or a question mark."

"So what does the first word mean, then? G-e-k-d-i-i-a. Even changing the letters' position, it doesn't give a word. It's only nonsense."

"What do you suggest, then?" Conan asked her slightly annoyed.

"Well, I thought of the chemical table of elements." she replied simply, "But those numbers don't correspond with the atomic number of none of the elements."

"Great." Conan remarked sarcastically, "We don't have a clue of what these numbers mean."

"Hey, we told you that it was hard." Ryu said, "You can't expect to solve this mystery immediately."

"Kudo is used to solve cases in a few minutes. He probably won't sleep till he understands the meaning of those numbers." Ai remarked, making Ryu and Rei smile slightly.

"Very funny, Haibara." Conan stated, rolling his eyes. "This code, if it is a code, is illogical. It's totally incomprehensible."

"Well, codes usually _are_ incomprehensible, Kudo." Ai shot back.

"I wonder how the scientists of the Organisation learned to work with it." he wondered, ignoring her sarcasm.

Ryu looked up.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, only one of them must have made this protection or code, right? The other scientists must have learned it in a second moment. Otherwise, how could they work while this was running? They would have been in trouble like us now."

Rei looked up, too. Conan and Ai's words had made her think.

Then, something clicked in her head.

"Of course!" she exclaimed loudly, making the other three jump.

"Rei?" Ryu asked, "What's wrong with you now?"

"What a fool..." she said absently.

"What?"

But Rei was not listening. She placed herself in front of the laptop and started to type quickly.

Ryu, Ai and Conan looked at each other. They didn't have a clue of what was going on or what Rei had in her mind.

"Er.. Rei?" Conan called her tentatively, "Do you mind telling us what you're doing?"

"It's an idea... I had it just now." she mumbled without taking her eyes off the screen, "Your words.. they made me wonder... The other scientists must have learned how to work with this code otherwise they would have been in trouble like us now."

"Yes, that's what he said." Ai remarked, "What's so special about that?"

"Follow my reasoning. This code has been used for a long time; the file concerning my parents' death had parts written in it. So the Organisation might be using it since its birth or nearly." Rei looked at Ryu. "Am I wrong?"

"No, it's a possibility." he replied, "While I was there I noticed that some of the programs they used had been written decades before."

"All right." Rei turned back to Conan and Ai, "Yesterday, you said that the Org. is gathering talented computer programmers, right?" They nodded and she continued. "All these new scientists probably have to work with files written in this code and their work must be written in the same way too. So, they have to learn it."

"So?" the other three asked.

"So.. I don't think that there is a scientist that teaches them how the code works. I think that they find everything in books."

"You mean that the famous code, the one that is used to hide all the information concerning the Organization, can be found in every computering text book?" Ryu asked ironically.

Rei looked at him.

"Exactly." she answered, taking them by surprise.

_"What?"_

Rei stopped working and looked at them.

"All this code business is just a way to confuse the intruders." she explained, letting her hands leave the key board. "At least, that's what I suppose. Think of what happened right now. Shinichi and Ai looked at this file for the first time and they tried to work it out but without results. I think that the mistake we all did was to start to decipher it with the assumption that these numbers hid a code."

"Wait a minute, you mean that.. the code is not a code?" Conan asked with puzzlement.

"You and Ai said this code's incomprehensible. Well, that's illogical. If you write a code there _must_ be a reasoning behind. And that supports my theory that the Org. wrote this numbers only to confuse intruders."

"What are those numbers then?" Ai asked, "What's the meaning of them? If there is a meaning..."

"There is a determined alphanumerical code used in programming languages. It's called ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange." Rei glanced at the other three. "And C uses it as well."

"Wait a minute, Rei." Ryu said, "You mean that they used ASCII to hide all the information regarding their activities?" He seemed completely unsure. "I think that you're making a mistake. That coding is too elemental... It... It's just... It's too easy."

"Exactly: it would be too _easy_." she agreed, "I discarded the idea myself when I began to work on the files. But what if the Org. was counting on this reaction?" Rei looked at them and saw only confusion on their faces, "I'll explain myself better. All the files have a series of protections. What should I do to see the contents of the files?"

"Force all the protections." Ai replied.

"Right and here I come against the first difficulty. The protections are written in different language programs. You have to be careful: one mistake and you risk to damage, or worse, erase the file's content. It took me nearly six months but I've found a way to force all the protections without damages. Now, what do I have to expect?"

"Another protection?" Conan asked uncertainly.

"Yes that's what I expect and I also expect that it's the most complicated to work out. That's what I thought, seeing all those numbers. But what if the Org.'s scientists counted on this assumption?"

"Who would think that the last protection would be the easiest to force?" Ryu said, understanding at last what Rei meant.

"Exactly. After all the difficulties you had to go against to force the previous protections, _who_ would think that the last one would be the easiest? No one."

"It was just a trick to fool intruders and make them waste time." Ai said understanding.

"So, they could track them down and get them out of their way." Conan added, nodding.

Rei smiled.

"It seems that everybody has understood now." she said, "That's probably the way they tracked me down back in America."

Ryu approached her.

"So, what are you going to do now?" he asked.

"I'm going to write down a simple ASCII program in C and try it with this file." she replied, "I am sure that all the files are linked together and _this_ is the starting one. If we work it out, we can work out all the other ones."

Rei resumed to type down the program, flipping through the pages of her notes when she didn't remember something.

Conan, Ai and Ryu waited in silence, not wanting to disturb her but, most of all, too nervous to speak. If Rei had really found the way to decipher all the files, they would be able to know _everything_ about the Organisation and bring it down with all its members.

A few minutes later, Rei stopped her work and looked up.

"I've finished to write the program." she said.

The others came closer to her. They were all looking at the laptop's screen.

"I hope my theory's right, otherwise we risk.." she stated nervously but Ryu stopped her putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry." he said reassuringly, "Your reasoning was correct and we won't blame you for anything." He turned to Ai and Conan for support. "Right?"

"Yes Rei, we have to risk if we want some results." Conan answered.

"And we won't blame you: you tried your best." Ai added.

Rei smiled at them and nodded.

"Thank you." she said softly and then turned to the screen, "It's now or never."

She pressed the "enter" button and the program started.

Silence fell in the lab. The four teenagers didn't even dare to breathe. They just waited...

Then a window appeared on the screen.

They all got closer to look at it and read the first line.

"**Archives** _**(1975)"**_

Under were all a series of names, dates, places and short paragraphs.

No one spoke. They couldn't believe what they were looking at. Then, Ryu broke the silence.

"I.. it wor.. worked." he said softly. He turned around to the others, "Oh God, it worked!"

"I..I don't.. believe it." Rei whispered, staring at the screen.

"Rei, you're a genius!" Ryu exclaimed turning to the stunned girl. He put both his hands on her shoulders and looked at her straight in the eyes, a smile creeping on his face, "We can have all the information now. You've made it."

She looked at him still in shock.

"I've made it." she repeated slowly. "My idea has worked!"

Rei looked at Ryu, a smile spreading on her face, jumped from the chair and hugged him. Ryu blushed, slightly taken aback but the girl didn't even notice. She didn't even realize what she was doing: she was just too happy.

Conan and Ai looked at them and smiled for Ryu's embarrassment but most of all for Rei's happiness. Months of work and trouble had finally given a good result.

They glanced at each other.

"Haibara, the Organisation's hours are counted now." he stated, smiling.

She looked at him and gave him a small smile.

"For once, I agree with you, Kudo." she said. "They are in trouble, now."

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Rei had found the way to force all the Organisation's files.

After a short discussion, she and Ryu had decided to work out all the files, print them and then call Matt and decide their next move. They kept working night and day in Agase's lab and they had found a good amount of things.

Ai was with them, too. The cd-Roms Ryu had given her were really the files that were inside her computer back in the Organisation. She had read everything and had set to work to prepare the antidote. Conan, in the meanwhile, spent every afternoon at Agase's house, helping Ryu and Rei; they had taught him how to work on the files and he had become pretty good on it.

Even though they didn't say it aloud, they all knew that they were close to achieve their goal.

It was not impossible, anymore...

-:-

Rei and Ai got up at seven o'clock, as usual. They were both tired; they had been working in the lab till past midnight and they had stopped only because Agase had forced them and Ryu to go to sleep.

"You know, it's a good thing that Shinichi's not living with us." Rei said, as they walked downstairs, "Knowing his impatience, he would probably lock himself in the lab to work on his own without even bothering to rest."

Ai smirked.

"We're not very different from him." she remarked, "Look what happened last night."

"Good point... but I think that if Shinichi was here, he would pass his impatience to us as well."

"It won't happen since he comes here only in the afternoons. Ryu has managed to convince him that Mouri would get even more suspicious if he suddenly moved here."

"Good for us." Rei remarked smiling slightly, making Ai smirk again

When they entered the kitchen, they found Ryu preparing breakfast, humming a tune. The girls looked at him with surprise; they thought that they were the first to be awake.

"Good morning." Ryu said, noticing them by the door.

"Good morning." they replied together.

"Ryu, when did you get up?" Rei asked, approaching him.

"Er.. at six o'clock." he replied.

She raised an eyebrow.

"You got up that early after going to bed at nearly one in the morning?" she asked.

He shrugged.

"I didn't feel like sleeping so I got up, got dressed, checked if the files I was working yesterday were still on my laptop and then took the box with Agase's old, broken inventions and put it on my table." he said, "I thought that I could work on the radar, today. Conan's doing well with the files: maybe he can work alone today."

The girls stared at him with amazement. Suddenly, Rei placed her hand on Ryu's back.

"Re.. Rei?" he asked, turning around and blushing, "What are you doing?"

"Checking if you really are a human being or some kind of robot that goes on with batteries." she replied with a serious face. However, the corner of her mouth was twitching.

Ryu frowned.

"Very funny, Rei." he said with slight annoyance, making her smile.

A muffled chuckle reached their ears and they turned around to see Ai shaking with mirth.

Ryu and Rei glanced at each other with a small smile. It was rare to see her smile or laugh; she was always so self-composed with her emotions. If she was doing that now, it meant that she considered them friends, or at least trustworthy enough to let her be relaxed in front of them.

A burnt smell came across the kitchen from the toaster's location. Ryu rushed to it.

"Damn it." he muttered, taking out what were two pieces of bread.

"Well, your breakfast's not looking good." Rei remarked sarcastically.

"I already had breakfast." he replied and turned around, hiding a smile. He pointed to the burnt bread. "That should been have yours, girls."

He laughed when he saw the looks on their faces.

* * *

"Conan-kun, Haibara-san! See you tomorrow!"

"Bye, Ai-chan! Conan-kun!"

"Bye!"

Conan and Ai were walking together to Agase's house after having said goodbye to the Detective Boys. They were walking silently, when they heard someone talk behind them.

"Hi, guys. How was school?"

They turned around and saw Ryu, carrying a bag.

"Hi, Ryu." Ai greeted him, "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing." he replied, "I just had to buy a few cables and some wires."

"For the radar?"

"Yes, Agase told that I could take some parts from his old inventions but I've used many of them and I have to buy some new parts."

"You're going to work on the radar, today?" Conan asked.

"Yes. I thought you could work on your own." he replied, "I'll be there anywhere so if you had any problems, just ask."

"Of course." he said with a smile.

Conan and Ryu had become good friends. Rei was right when she said that they had many things in common. Soccer, Holmes, mystery novels, motorbikes and other passions but, most of all they had similar characters.

The three were walking on the street when Ai stopped suddenly. Ryu, who was walking behind, nearly tripped over her.

"Ai, what's wrong?" he asked but she didn't reply.

Conan glanced at her and studied her face when no answer came. Her facial expression had changed: it was exactly like the one she had...

'On the bus...' he thought, 'What..?'

Pale face, eyes wide and she was shivering, too.

Something was wrong.

_Very_ wrong.

Then it clicked and he understood.

_They were there._

Conan turned pale.

Ryu noticed the expressions on their faces. He stepped in front of them and bent down, putting his hands on their shoulders.

"What's wrong?" he asked with concern, "Ai? Conan?"

And then he felt it and he froze.

He felt that stare on him That cold stare.

Ryu felt cold sweat clamp his forehead. He had already felt that stare on him before. He looked up slowly and looked around, his cap hiding his eyes and then he noticed something.

A shadow hidden far from him but yet close enough to make him feel every ounce of danger and fear. The shadow with cold metal grey eyes.

He knew who it was.

'It can't be..' he thought feverishly, 'What.. why... Why here?'

His thoughts were flooding his mind as fear was slowly overcoming him. He forced himself to settle down when he realized that Conan and Ai were with him. If _he_ had found him, it didn't mean that he had recognized them. He put his arms around the two kids' neck, bringing them closer to him in a hug.

This took both by surprise.

"I know." Ryu whispered, "Just follow me and be natural. Conan give me your earring phone."

They nodded. Ryu got up with a small smile on his face and held out his hand: Conan slipped the phone in it. Nobody could have noticed this; then they started to walk towards a bar and entered in. They went towards the bathrooms and locked the door.

Ryu took out the phone and dialled a number. Conan and Ai looked at him, hearts beating faster every moment.

"Rei? It's me." he said, quickly," Listen, carefully. One of them is here. He has recognized me. Yes, and Conan and Ai are with me. Do as we have planned. Yes, inform Agase and do all the rest but.. Rei, be quick. We can't wait: we're all in danger."

He hung up.

-:-

In the meanwhile outside, a dark figure was waiting next to a lamp post, an evil smile plastered on his face.

_"Your hours are counted, Martini.."_

* * *

(1) From Shiniki Kudo's "The Unexpected."

Corrections have been made. Here's a short explanation of programming.

Code ASCII is not hard: you just write numbers instead of letters and symbols.

A-Z : 65 - 74.

a-z: 75 - 122.

( , ) : 40, 41.

"space" : 32.

0-9 : 48 - 57.

and so on..

For example the words I wrote:

Archives (1975).

It must be read like this:

A 65; r 114; c 99; h 104; i 105; v 118; e 101; s 115;

"space" 32;

( 40;

1 49; 9 57; 7 55; 5 53;

) 41.

Please, read and review!

BYE!


	12. If it's necessary, then

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Detective Conan .

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

_**Chapter 11**_

_If it's necessary, the__n..._

Agase came out of the kitchen, holding a dish towel in his hand. He was sure that he had heard the phone ring and as he went towards its table down the corridor, he saw Rei hanging up the receiver.

"Rei-kun, who...?" he started to ask but quickly stopped when he noticed the girl's face.

She was pale and her eyes were filled with concern and anxiety. She didn't seem to have noticed him for she was lost in thoughts.

"Rei-kun?" Agase asked softly, approaching her, "What's wrong?"

The girl looked up and it took her a moment to realise where she was and recognize Agase.

"Professor, there is a problem." she said, "I need your help. We don't have time to waste."

* * *

"Now the problem is how to get out of here without being noticed." Ryu muttered more to himself than to the others after he gave the earring phone back to Conan. "Maybe, there is a back door or something. We must be there in less than half an hour.. "

"Where should we be in thirty minutes?" Conan asked him.

"Near the station." he replied, "Rei will be waiting for us there."

"Why?" Ai asked, "And what did you mean with -do as we have planned?"

"Listen, I'll explain everything to you but now we must find a way to get out of this bar without passing from the entrance." Ryu remarked, opening the locked bathroom door.

They looked around and found a small door at the very back of the bar. They walked out, trying to be as natural as possible and trying to go unnoticed. They soon found themselves in an alley opposite the main street.

"Well, no one around." Ryu said, looking on both his sides, "Come on, let's go. We have already wasted some minutes."

They began to walk quickly towards the station. Every now and then, one glanced behind to see if someone was following them.

"Now, Ryu." Conan said, as they were going, "Do you want to tell us what you and Rei have planned?"

"All right." he replied, looking down at the kids by his side, "Rei and I have worked out an emergency plan. You know, in case one of us was recognized by a member of the Organisation. Mainly, if they saw me or her. You two are still safe in this form. But... that's not relevant now. The one that was following us has surely recognized me, the same way I immediately knew who he was."

"You know who he is?" Ai questioned, looking up.

Ryu's face darkened.

"Yes, I know him." he replied shortly, "I know him well."

Conan and Ai stared at him and noticed a strange glint in his eyes. They didn't ask anything else because, somehow, they knew that Ryu wouldn't have answered. He seemed to be in a world of his own, thinking of else. The three arrived at the station fifteen minutes later but Rei was not in sight.

"Ryu, how is she coming here?" Conan asked.

"By car." he replied.

"Well, Agase's car's not around." Ai said.

"Yeah..."

Both Conan and Ai looked at the other boy. He was not paying attention to what they were saying. He just answered absently and kept looking around and at his watch. Suddenly something caught Ryu's eye. A grey car was coming towards them and its headlights went on and off twice.

A smile flickered on his face.

'The signal.' he thought.

"She's here." he said, turning to the others.

Conan and Ai hadn't even realized what was going on that the car had already braked in front of them and Ryu opened the back door to let them inside.

"Come on." he urged and they scrambled in while he closed the door and sat in the front.

"Ok, Rei, let's go." he said to the driver.

"All right." she replied and they sped away.

Nobody spoke for a few minutes. Rei went on driving while Ryu kept looking at the rear-view mirror, checking if someone was following them. Conan and Ai kept silent, waiting for the right moment to ask questions but both noticed that there were four backpacks under the seat.

At last, Ryu let out a small sigh of relief.

"Nobody in sight." he said, "We are safe.. for the moment."

"Can you explain me what has happened?" Rei asked him, "You didn't tell much on the phone."

"There's not much to say." he replied, "They have recognized me and we must go away. Speaking of going away, did you do everything?"

"Yes, all done. We should be covered for a couple of days."

"Hey, you two, do you mind explaining _us_ what's going on?" Conan asked, gesturing to Ai and himself. Rei turned to Ryu with a questioning look and he smiled sheepishly.

"Er.. I didn't tell them anything." he remarked, "I had other things in my mind."

"Oh, all right." she huffed and glanced at the two kids at the back through the mirror, "We have worked out a plan in case the Organisation was around; if we had even the hint that they were here, we had to leave."

"Wait a minute... we're running away?" Conan asked in disbelief, "Is that your plan?"

"No, we're not running away. We just have to make them believe that we have left." Ryu remarked, "It was obvious that they would have controlled this area since they've met Sherry here. You've seen Gin and Vodka at the Haido City Hotel, right?"

"Yes." Ai replied.

"We thought that they would have probably left someone to keep an eye on the situation and this would have been dangerous for Ryu and me." Rei said.

"We can be recognized easily; a cap and a pair of glasses are not much of a disguise." Ryu added, "You two are safe because of your shrunken form but since you were with me before, you would have been in danger anyway. That's why you're coming with us now but don't worry, you'll be back home in two days."

"Hey, wait!" Conan cut in, "What do you mean with -_you will be back_? What about you and Rei?"

The two at the front glanced at each other.

"We will see what to do." Ryu said, "It depends on what will happen."

"Are you planning to leave for America?" Ai asked.

"No. Not yet." Rei replied, "There still are loads of files to work out and, by the way, it would be problematic if one of us showed up. Everyone thinks that I've killed myself."

"And everyone considers me a traitor." Ryu stated, "Even if we managed to contact Matt, we would be exposed too much."

"So, where are we going?" Ai asked.

"Out of Tokyo for the moment." Ryu replied, "There is a small town nearby, surrounded by woods. Perfect place for camping."

"_Camping?_" Conan and Ai repeated together.

"Yes, that's the covering to explain our sudden disappearance." Rei said, "By the way, Shinichi, Agase informed Mouri-san that he was taking you and Ai out for a camping trip and that you'd be back in two days."

"Did Ran believe him?" Conan asked.

"I don't know. I was too busy packing the backpacks to ask him anything. Then I just rushed out to rent this car."

"Why didn't you take Agase's?"

"His yellow Beetle can be identified easily." Ryu remarked, "They could track down the owner through the licence plate and that could put Agase in danger. That's why we didn't drop you at his house; since they have seen you too, they could have followed you to see how you were involved with me or worse, they could have kidnapped you to let me come out and face them."

Conan and Ai looked at both with a slightly amazed expression. It seemed that Ryu and Rei had foreseen all of the Organisation's moves.

"Rei, did you put everything in the bags?" Ryu asked after a short moment of silence.

"Yes, everything." she replied, looking at him. She then glanced at the other two through the rear view mirror, "I took your backpacks and packed them; I took enough clothes for two days and I also put in some other things. Why don't you look in? You too, Ryu."

Conan, Ai and Ryu took the bags and opened them.

Conan found clothes but also hypodermic needles for his stun-gun watch, waterproof matches, a pocket knife and the battery-recharge for his glasses and his earring telephone.

Ai found clothes, a first aid kit, a compass, a lighter and rope.

Ryu found his two guns, an automatic and a revolver, with spare chargers, a map and a flashlight along with his clothes. They also had a bottle of water and a package of food each.

"What do you have in your bag, Rei?" Conan asked, cramming his school bag in the backpack.

"Besides clothes, food and water like you, I've got my gun with chargers, rope and a transceiver." she replied.

"Well, you packed only the essential." Ryu remarked, "It should be enough for two days. If we have to send Conan and Ai back, then..."

"Wait. Why should _we_ leave?" Conan retorted.

"Listen, it's for our safety." Ryu said, "If something goes wrong, someone has to continue our work to bring the Organisation down and send it to Matt. Rei and I can't go back:; they would find us immediately but you two can since they don't know of your physical change. You could keep on working undisturbed and we could contact you every now and then."

"I have already told Agase that if he doesn't receive any news from us for at least two days, he has to call Matt and inform him of the situation and decide what to do." Rei added, "However, this will occur only if something goes wrong. If they believe that we've gone away.. well, if they believe that Ryu's gone, they'll probably leave Tokyo too and then we could all go back home."

The car went silent afterwards.

Conan was still wondering why, in case of danger, he and Ai must be sent away rather than facing the Organisation's men. He wasn't so useless.

Ai, on the other hand, was watching Ryu intently. The boy was looking out of the window but his stare was empty, unfocused as though he was thinking of something else. She had noticed that he hadn't mentioned that he knew who was following them before.

"Ryu, who was following us?" she dared to ask, coming to the conclusion that they all had to know who they were facing.

"Yes, you said that you know him." Conan said, snapping out of his thoughts.

Rei looked at Ryu in surprise. She was going to say something, question him when she noticed a strange glint flash in his eyes. It was sorrow mixed with... Rei couldn't believe it. Anger?

Was it possible?

'Something is wrong..' she thought turning to look at the street again but eyeing her companion.

"Yes, I know him." Ryu replied quietly, still looking absently at the distance, "He's Scotch, my.. Martini's partner back in the Organisation."

"_Scotch_?" Rei asked in shock, whipping around to him, "Are you sure, Ryu?"

"Do you think that I could mistake him for another?" he retorted coolly.

"No." she muttered and her face darkened, "Of course not."

Conan and Ai watched them and understood that something was wrong. They had never seen Ryu and Rei with such dark faces.

'They are hiding something.' they both thought.

"Is there something that we don't know?" Conan voiced loudly but he didn't get a reply.

After a ten minutes of complete silence, Rei slowed down and stopped the car close to the woods where they would seek hiding.

"I think that we should leave the car here." she said.

Ryu looked around; the trees and the bushes hid the car pretty well and even if it was found, it wouldn't be a great loss. As long as they were not found.. He turned around and nodded and the four got out of the car.

"Ok, let's go." the engineer said, "We have to walk a bit to reach the cabin."

"Where?" Ai asked, putting the backpack.

"There is a small log cabin in the middle of the woods. It's usually used by hunters or animal watchers but in this time of the year nobody comes up here." He noticed the questioning look on her face. "Rei did a research to find a suitable place to hide. We have made this emergency plan only a few weeks ago and she didn't find much. This place seemed to be the best one available."

"Come on, let's go." Rei said and the others nodded.

They started to walk along a twisting path. They didn't talk and just walked silently, paying attention to every noise around them. After a while, they came across a big oak tree and they decided to stop there for a break. As they sat on the ground, opening their bags to get the bottles and have a drink of water, Rei glanced at Ryu. It seemed that she was asking him something, asking permission and he just nodded, understanding what she meant.

Rei took a deep breath and turned around.

"Shinichi, Ai. There is something you have to know before we go on." she said and the two looked up. It seemed that they had decided to speak at last.

"Do you remember when I said that I had found out of my parents' death in the files of the Organisation?"

"Yes and Ryu found out of his family in the same way." Conan remarked.

"Yes, this happened months ago. Well... there is a something we didn't tell you. " The girl looked at the two kids. "We also know who is the killer of our parents and it's the same person that's following us now."

Conan and Ai were both thunderstruck.

"You mean... Scotch?" Conan asked slowly and Rei nodded.

Ai turned to Ryu who was sitting behind Rei and that had been silent the whole time.

"He's the one that killed your family?" she asked him.

"Yes." he replied quietly "I recognized him immediately, from the moment I first saw him back in the Organisation headquarter. I knew that I was looking at the man that had been pointing a gun to my mother and father five years ago."

"And you worked with him?" Ai asked in disbelief.

"I didn't have other choice." he said shortly. He looked up and Ai was startled to see his face. It was cold, emotionless but his eyes were full of pain and anger in total contrast with his expression.

Conan had noticed Ryu's eyes, too and felt a chill run down his spine for he had seen that very look many other times.

Unfortunately, he knew what it meant.

'Vengeance..' he thought.

"Didn't you say that he's a scientist?" Conan asked Ryu, trying to stir him from his thoughts, "Didn't the high members usually kil.. I mean weren't they the ones involved in murders?"

Ryu nodded.

"Scotch used to be a high member." he replied with a cool tone. "But he was demoted to the scientists' level after two mistakes he had done during his missions: leaving me and Rei alive."

"Yes, it was also on some files of the archive." Rei said quietly, "The leaders decided to demote him because he didn't do a clean work. He didn't get me after my parents' death since I was sent to Europe for my safety by my guardian. I think that they knew that I could have annoyed them later and wanted to finish me off; while in Ryu's case.. well.. he's an eyewitness. He told what he had seen but they managed to cover up everything. Then, Ryu disappeared and even if they found him, they couldn't hurt him since he lived with an FBI inspector."

"Wait a second..They knew all this things about you?" Conan asked, looking at both. "How?"

"They probably did researches on us for the past five years." Rei replied, "And the fact that we are both FBI agents must have helped them even more. They surely found all the information about us on the main database."

"The Organisation doesn't forget easily who has been on its way." Ryu remarked, "And neither does Scotch. He probably wants Rei and me dead since we are the reason of his demotion. He's a terribly ambitious man: I noticed it while we worked together. He will not surrender till he gets what he wants. He must have tracked me down the same way Rei did. By entering the airport system."

"But you're safe now, right?" Conan said, "He doesn't know that you're here."

"I hope so." he replied, getting up. "He didn't follow us: I've been looking every minute. So unless he knew where we were heading or has been following us by very long distance, we're safe." He swept a hand through his hair. "At the mome... Rei, what's wrong?"

The girl had got up with a start and was deadly pale.

"We.. have forgotten.. the research by satellite." she remarked softly.

It took Ryu a few moments to understand what she meant. His eyes widened.

"Damn it." he muttered.

Conan knew that the research by satellite was a system installed in many cars that was used by the driver as a navigator but it also worked against thefts. If the car was stolen, the police could track down the car thanks to the satellite research. Ai knew this too.

Then it hit them both.

"If Scotch had foreseen that you would have rented a car, he could enter the satellite research system and..." Conan started.

"And... track us down." Ai finished, "He could already know where we are."

"Yes. He knows already." Ryu said, "That's why he didn't follow us. He knew that we would have rented a car.. which name did you give, Rei? Don't tell me..."

But the girl nodded desperately.

"I gave my name." she said.

"So, he knows that your death was a feign... Great." Ryu ran his hand through his hair again, thinking of a way out. "Scotch is one of the best agents I've ever met. If he has foreseen our moves then he must have done some researches too. I bet he knows that we're going to the cabin."

"We have to go somewhere else." Conan remarked.

Ryu glanced at him and at Ai. He then turned to Rei with a significant look. She nodded slowly.

"I think that we should split here." he said, at the end, "You two must go back to Agase's house."

"What?" Conan asked in disbelief. Ai didn't react.

"Shinichi, listen." Rei joined the conversation, "At the moment, you and Ai are the only ones among the four of us that can't be easily recognized. Scotch probably knows that I'm alive because of my mistake of giving my name when I rented the car and he saw Ryu. We are his main targets."

"We were with Ryu, too." Conan retorted, "He could recognize us and by the way, we're not certain that he's coming."

"I'm sure he's coming here." Ryu said, "And we don't know if he's alone or with other agents. We can't go back because we would put in danger all the people around us but you two can. If there's even a small possibility for you to reach Tokyo without being harmed, then Rei and I will try to help you leave."

Conan was going to retort again when Ai stepped in.

"How can you be so sure that the Organisation doesn't know that Kudo and I are in this form?" she asked bluntly.

This took both Ryu and Rei by surprise. They turned in unison to the little girl.

"What?" Ryu asked, "They might know it?"

"They could. If another scientist carried on my work on the APTX-4869, the flaw in the project that made us turn children might be noticed." Ai replied, "And if they do notice it, then I'm traceable as much as you are. They have photos of me as a child. It will take them less than a day to find me."

"What about you, Shinichi?" Rei asked, turning to the boy, "Who knows that you are in this form? Besides Agase and your parents?"

"There's.. Vermouth, or Chris Vineyard that might know who I am. She might have suspects on my identity." he replied after a moment of silence, "I spoke of my condition just to one person and that's Hattori."

"Who?"

"Heiji Hattori. He's a detective in Osaka and son of the chief inspector, Heizo Hattori. I've told him the truth because he could have helped me track down the Organisation."

"Is he trustworthy?" Ryu asked.

"Yes. He's a loyal friend and also a good detective."

"Well, this Hattori sounds ok. Is there anyone else that knows or that might know who you really are?"

"No... no one el.. Hey wait! Kid knows who I am."

Ryu and Rei looked at him with a startled look when they heard this.

"Phantom thief Kid?"

"You mean, 1412?"

"Yes, him." Conan replied, slightly surprised by their reactions, "You know him already?"

"He was mentioned on a file regarding the Organisation." Rei answered, "It was one of the last ones I was working on."

"We don't know how he's involved with them." Ryu added, "We don't know if he's an ally or an enemy. And if he's on their side, then he could have informed them of your state." He sighed. "Well, this surely changes our plans. If there's a chance that they know about your shrinking and of your real identities, you're in our same situation. We can't split: it would be dangerous. Any ideas?"

"We could try to get away with the car." Conan suggested.

"There's the research by satellite in." Ryu reminded him "Scotch will find us again."

"But if we remove it or maybe modify it, he won't be able to find us, right?" Rei remarked, "I can go back to the car and try to work on it."

"No, wait a minute, Rei. Scotch could be nearby. If he sees you, you're good as dead. Don't forget that he's a professional. And by the way, you don't have the necessary tools to work."

Rei opened her backpack and drew out a small leather case.

"Agase gave me this before I left." she said, "He said that it could have been useful."

She opened the case, revealing two small screwdrivers, a few wires, a cutter, pliers. There was also a small object, not bigger than a wallet and a pair of sunglasses.

Rei noticed the others puzzled faces. She took the wallet-sized object in her hand.

"This is a mini computer: it's not very powerful but I can link it to my laptop and have access to data in it. And these glasses have a special radar built in: it works with x-rays and detects any organic presence in a range of twenty meters." she explained, "They are Agase's last inventions: he warned me that he didn't have time to test them but he gave them to me anyway, in case we were in trouble."

"Well, you do _have_ the equipment then." Conan said, "I can come with you."

Rei shook her head.

"It'd better if I go alone." she said, "In two we can be easily noticed."

"But.."

"No buts, Shinichi. I'll go alone and don't worry I've got a weapon." she said, taking out her revolver. Ryu stepped forward and handed her a fistful of bullets.

"Take these." he said, "Just in case."

"Thanks, Ryu." she said, slipping the bullets in her jacket's pocket. "But what about you?"

"Don't worry." he reassured her, "I've got the automatic."

"What will you three do?"

"We'll look around and see if there's another place where we can stay. It will be dark in a couple of hours: I don't think it would be wise to stay out. We would be exposed." He turned to the kids. "What do you think?"

"I agree." Conan said, "Maybe we could find a cave or an old shed."

"How will you keep in contact, Rei?" Ai asked.

"I'll use the transceiver on the glasses.." she replied, "It's on the same wave-length of Shinichi and Ryu's glasses."

Conan looked up.

"Agase modified your glasses?" he asked.

"Yes, they're like yours now." Ryu replied, "Transceiver, radar and device built-in."

"By the way, where should we meet?" Rei asked, picking up her backpack.

"What about here?" Conan suggested.

"Yeah, why not?" Ryu remarked with a nod, "In front of this oak tree in about.. two hours, all right? It took us more than half an hour to come here. I think that's enough time to go and come back. What do you think, Rei?"

"Yes, all right." she said, "Well, I'll go and see what I can do with the car. If something goes wrong, I'll use the transceiver."

"We'll do the same." Conan said. Ryu and Ai nodded.

"Ok, see you later. Be careful." she said, "All of you."

"You're the one that has to be careful." Ryu remarked with a small smile, "Don't worry, we won't do anything rash."

"Remember those words." she told him warningly. Rei turned around and walked down the path, disappearing a few moments later.

'Be careful, Rei.' Ryu thought.

He opened his backpack, drew out the revolver and turned around to Ai.

"You know how to use a gun, right?" he asked, "Take this. There are only six shots but I think it should be enough."

Ai took the gun and put it in her jacket pocket.

"Do you expect that we'll have to use guns?" she asked.

"I'm not sure but knowing what Scotch is able to do, I think that it's better to be prepared." he replied, "We're all armed and if something happens, we can defend ourselves. Anyway, Conan, Ai, you two must always stick together, all right?"

"Why?" they asked together.

"One has a transceiver, the other has a gun. If we are separated for some reason, we have to communicate and the stun-gun won't do much against a gun." he replied, "And most of all, you have to help each other since you're both in a.. er.. reduced form."

"All right." Ai said. Conan didn't reply.

He had the feeling that Ryu was up to something. All the safety measures that he was taking for his and Haibara's safety and, most of all, the look that he had on his face a few moments before made his detective bells ring in alarm.

It was ..suspicious.

"Ryu, why are you supposing that we'll be divided?" he asked after a bit.

"Just in case." the blond replied, "It's better to be prepared in advance than face a danger without knowing what to do."

He glanced at the smaller boy and saw doubt in his eyes.

'Well, he's a detective, after all.' he thought, understanding what he was thinking of.

"Conan, if you want to tell me something, please say it clearly." Ryu remarked bluntly and faced him. Conan nodded.

"I think that if Scotch shows up, you will find a way to face him alone." he said seriously. "Sending me and Haibara away."

"It might be..." Ryu asserted.

"I'm not going to let you do that."

"Why not?"

"You would do a foolish thing. A very foolish thing staying with him alone."

"Do you think that I won't be able to control myself?"

"You are able to be perfectly self-controlled in your normal state but I have my doubts of how you'd react now."

"How do _you_ know what I might do?"

"I can recognize certain stares."

Ryu didn't answer; instead, he opened his backpack and took out the map. Conan took a sip of water from his bottle. A strange silence fell between them.

Ai had been watching them the whole time and was surprised, even though she didn't show it openly. She had noticed Ryu's strange behaviour too but hadn't realized immediately what it could mean as Conan had.

If Ryu met Scotch, all the hatred, the anger and the pain that he had been shutting down in his heart would just come up at full force and who knows what he might do.

She knew what it meant. She had felt the same when she met Gin at the Haido City Hotel months ago.

But the thing that had surprised her most was the boys' attitude.

Conan and Ryu had always gone well together as though they had known each other for years but now, they were behaving as though the were two strangers. Conan had the cool tone he adopted when he solved a case and talked to the criminal while Ryu was emotionless as when she had met him in the Organisation when he was Martini. Their argument had been short without shouts or angry outbursts. It had been cold, emotionless and so.. harsh.

Ryu folded the map and put it in his jacket pocket.

"I think we should move." he said quietly, picking up his backpack, "Rei will be back in two hours if everything goes well and we have to find a safe place for the night." He looked at the others, "What do you think? Shall we go?"

Conan and Ai nodded and the three began to go into the depths of the woods.

* * *

"This wire.. then this one here.."

A soft typing sound was heard, followed by a small click.

Rei closed the small computer and quickly put away all the tools. It had taken her forty minutes to reach the car. She had to walk silently and slowly in the woods so that no one would have noticed her and Agase's special sunglasses had been useful too. She didn't meet anyone on her way.

She looked at her watch: disconnecting the satellite researcher had taken nearly half an hour. It was getting late.

'I have to meet the others near the oak tree in less than an hour.' she thought, 'They didn't call so.. nothing has happened... I hope.'

She didn't know why but ever since she had left Conan, Ai and Ryu, she had been feeling strangely alarmed.

It was not only her nerves but something else. It was a..

Bad feeling.

She picked her backpack and was about to leave the car when she saw something silvery fall down on the car's carpet. Rei instinctively grabbed it before it went down.

It was a silver chain with a silver crucifix hanging on it. She instinctively touched her neck and felt it bare. It was hers. A smile made its way on her face as a memory surfaced back to her mind.

-:-

_Ryu and her were in Agase's lab, working as usual. _

_Shi__nichi__ and Ai were still at school and Professor was busy in the kitchen, probably cooking or fixing one of his inventions._

_She slowly stretched, putting her laptop in standby. There were many files to work out and even tho__ugh she had__ divid__ed__ them all with Ryu, Ai and Shin__ichi__, the amount of work was still considerable. _

_Moreover, Ryu was working on the radar for his devices and Ai was busy with the antidote for the APTX-4869. It often happened that the__ three of them__ worked till it was late at night. They went to sleep mainly because Agase chased them away from the lab. _

_Shi__nichi__ had his work too. Since he couldn't stay with them too much time without making Mouri suspicious, he came to Agase's house every afternoon after school and on weekends to help with the files but most of all, he kept them informed of what happened around them; since Kogoroh was considered the most skilled detective around, Inspector Megure always came to his agency to ask for help. Shi__nichi__ managed to be there every time and his duty was to inform the others if something strange happened, like odd deaths, thefts or something._

_She smiled slightly. They made a good team and they all went well with each other. She was getting used to this situation._

_'I hope it will last long..' she thought, 'We are close to bring the Organisation down now: it would be nice if we stayed this close after.. as four normal teenagers.'_

_"Rei? Are you all right?"_

_She looked up and turned to her side._

_"Come again?"_

_"I asked if you were all right. You were smiling all by yourself."_

_"I was just thinking about a thing." she replied, "Don't worry, Ryu, I'm not going mad."_

_"Well, I hope not." he said smiling. He put his laptop on standby and got up, stretching. "Conan and Ai will be here in another half an hour." He glanced at the clock on the wall, "What about a break, Rei? Till they come?"_

_She glanced at him and nodded. _

_"Why not?" she said, getting up, "We're working from this morning."_

_She got up and stretched again not__ noticing that__ Ryu's eyes were fixed on her._

_"Rei?" he asked, rather uncertainly, "What did you do to your hair?"_

_"What?" she asked, turning to him._

_"Well, it seems different... I don't know ..I thought the__y__ were longer. When we met last time in America, I remember that they reached your shoulder blades or more."_

_She was slightly surprised._

_"I never thought someone would notice it." she replied, "Well, Matt told me that I had to disguise myself otherwise I risked to be recognized so I cut my hair and began to dress differently. Not much, mind you, just jeans, denim jacket, baseball cap always lowered on my eyes. No one recognized me bes__ides__ Yukiko-san." She looked at him with a smile,"I underestimated your powers of observation, Ryu."_

_"Ehm.. right." he replied pretty embarrassed._

_"Ryu, can I ask you a question?" she said, after a while._

_"Sure." he answered._

_"Remember when you talked with us last week? Why did you flinch when Ai and Shinichi mentioned Vermouth?"_

_Ryu frowned slightly._

_"I don't like her at all." he replied._

_"You've met her?" she asked, "You didn't tell us that."_

_"I met her a few times while I was in the Organisation back in America. She's one of the best agents along with Gin, Vodka and Shuichi Akai. There were rumours about them that gave me creeps: they were the best murderers around.." Ryu had a expression of pure disgust on his face, remembering them. "But speaking of Vermouth, I didn't like her because ..er.. she was rather fli__rtatious with me.__"_

_"What?" she asked in disbelief. She felt a strange twitch in her stomach and the__ sudden urge to strangle Chris Vineyard.__ For the first time, she felt jealous._

_"Yeah. She tried to.. seduce me.. but I didn't let her. You know me, I get pretty uncomfortable in these kind of situations but with her it was different. I was only disgusted: knowing who she was, what she had done and also knowing that she had some kind of relationship with Gin. So, I also imagined what kind of woman she was." He shuddered slightly and didn't notice that Rei had sighed with relief._

_"What's so special about me?" he asked, probably to himself._

_She looked at him. _

_" Everything." she said tr__uthfully__ with a mischievous smile and Ryu blushed aga__in._

_"By the way, I've also noticed another thing about you." he said, looking up when he didn't feel his face hot anymore. He slipped his hand in his jeans pocket and took out a silver chain with crucifix. He approached the girl, leaned over her shoulders and put on the chain for her._

_"What... are you doing?" she asked. She__ hoped that her voice wasn't as embarrassed as she heard it._

_He backed a few steps from her without saying a word and gestured her to see her reflection on the window. She did as he asked, then she turned around with a puzzled smile._

_"Ryu, what is this for?" she asked, touching the chain._

_"You had to leave your chain to Matt, right?" he said, "It was the final evidence to make everyone believe that the suicide girl is you. And since you had to put on this act because of me, to find me I mean, I thought that I had to repay you in some way. That's my chain: I've always had it since I was small but now it's yours."_

_"No, Ryu, I can't.." she said but he stopped her._

_"You can't refuse, Rei." he said, "Listen, when all this business will be over, you will probably get your chain back, right? You can give me the chain back only whe__n this will happen.__"_

_He smiled at her and she felt her heart melt like ice. He was__ the only one that she knew that had this particular effect on her._

_"All right." she managed to reply softly, looking at him straight in the eyes, "Thank you, Ryu."_

_He smiled at her again and they both left the lab._

-:-

Rei quickly put the chain on.

She was not superstitious but its sudden fall summed to her growing agitation were making her feel uneasy.

'It's better if I hurry up.' she thought, shutting the car's door, 'All these worries will disappear as soon as I see Ai, Ryu and Shinichi.'

She put the sunglasses on and checked if there was anyone around. As soon as she was sure to be alone, she headed towards the path. It was getting close to dusk so she decided to keep the glasses.

'Great! I don't have a flashlight!' she thought, 'I forgot to pack it in my bag. Well, Agase's x-ray glasses are providential. I only hope that no one sees me. They could think I'm crazy since I wear sunglasses with nearly no light.'

She gave one last check around and walked on the path, heading to the oak tree where the others would be waiting her.

* * *

After an hour of walking and searching around, Conan, Ai and Ryu hadn't still found a safe place for the night. They had only found a cave. It could have been a good place since it was well hidden by some bushes but it had two entrances; actually, it was more like a short tunnel than a cave.

Ryu had remarked that it would have been hard to guard two entrances at a time, so he suggested to look around another bit. If they didn't find anything better till Rei's arrival, then they would have stayed in the cave for the night.

"Better than nothing." Ryu stated.

Conan and Ryu had continued to keep a cool attitude towards each other. Ai didn't say anything. She just trailed behind the boys while they discussed what they had to do. Her starting surprise for their behaviour had now changed into two different feelings. Comprehension and slight irritation.

Ryu looked at his watch.

"We have forty minutes before our meeting with Rei at the oak tree." he said, "We still have a bit of time to find something better than that tunnel-cave"

"Well, we've been looking everywhere." Conan remarked, "I think that we'll have to go even further in this forest if we want a more satisfactory place for the night."

"You could be right." Ryu said, "But we can't go to far."

"Yes, we could be late and Rei might think something had happened to us." Ai remarked.

"Well, what should we ..?" Ryu stopped talking abruptly.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Conan asked but the other boy gestured him and Ai to keep silent and to get near the bushes on their side.

Ryu slowly looked around, his heart beating faster. He was sure he had heard a noise.

'Somebody's here.' he thought, 'That noise seemed to be like a broken stick or twig. Someone's walking around us.'

He was going to move towards the source of the sound when...

Hadn't it been for his reflexes and to instinct mixed together, he would have been hurt.

Ryu quickly dodged to his left, avoiding the thing that whizzed at him at full speed. He turned around immediately to see if Conan and Ai were fine. They were standing on either sides of a tree, eyes fixed on the tree's log and pale as sheets.

Ryu approached them and saw what had got stuck on the log.

It was an arrow. He took it out and examined it. A metallic arrow with a very sharp arrow-head.

"This is a crossbow arrow." he said quietly.

"He's here..."

Ryu looked down at Ai. It was a statement not a question. She must have sensed him just as he had.

"Scotch uses crossbows sometimes." he replied, "It's his way to give the victim a warning."

"Warning?" Conan asked.

"Don't forget that he's a murderer. He likes to kill. I think that shooting an arrow is his idea of playing with the victim." Ryu grasped the arrow in his hand. "It's a way to make the victim get nervous and when it finally looses control, Scotch shows up and finishes the work with the gun."

Conan and Ai didn't say anything. They couldn't. They had both realised the danger they were going against.

Ryu looked around again. Everything seemed normal but he knew that Scotch was there.

Hidden somewhere close to them.

His mind was racing: he had to think of something quickly. Scotch wanted him but he wouldn't have left Conan and Ai alive.

'He won't make the same mistake twice.' he thought, 'No eyewitness.'

"Conan, Ai, follow me." he said a few moments later.

The two kids did as he said and they walked through the woods until they reached the tunnel-cave they had previously found and went in. The cave was well lit by the outside light. They didn't even need to use their flashlights.

Ryu stopped abruptly and Conan nearly crashed on him.

"What the..?" the little boy asked, straightening up. "Why did you stop?"

Ryu didn't answer. He put his backpack down and took of his black leather jacket.

"Ryu, what are you doing?" Ai asked, slightly alarmed by his actions, "We can't stay here. Scotch has probably followed us. He will find us."

Still no answer. Ryu opened his backpack and drew out his automatic and quickly loaded it.

"Are you going to face him alone?" Conan asked and Ryu nodded slightly. "No way, you can't. If you face him, you could..."

"Kill him." Ryu finished. "You wanted to say that, right?"

Conan clenched his fists on his side.

"Yes." he replied, "I can't let you do that: it's a crime"

Ai looked at him with disbelief.

'A member of the Organisation, a murderer, is after us and _he_ thinks of justice?' she thought.

Ryu looked down at Conan.

"I'm not going to kill Scotch." he said firmly, "I've been working with him for more than a year, knowing who he was and what he had done. If I wanted to kill him, I could have done it before."

"You were in their headquarters." Conan retorted, "If you even tried to point a gun at him, _you_ would have died but now it's different: Haibara and I are the only witnesses."

"So, you think that I could take advantage of this situation and take my revenge on Scotch." Ryu remarked coolly. "No witnesses except two kids; could be my great chance."

Ai looked at Ryu, wondering if he was speaking seriously since his face and tone were emotionless. But she had to admit that it would have been the perfect moment for him to get revenge and, somehow, she didn't think that it would have been a mistake.

Scotch had killed Ryu's family and had also murdered Rei's parents. It was true that killing was wrong but she thought that there could be an exception in this case.

Scotch was a murderer; if Ryu killed him, she would have understood.

Ai often wondered what she would do if she faced Gin, the murderer of her sister. If she had a gun, she would probably shoot him to death.

Ai snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Conan say the last thing she ever expected to hear.

"If you kill him, Ryu, I will report you."

Ai was thunderstruck. Could he really report a friend without afterthoughts? Was he really capable of being so.. heartless? Her surprise changed into anger.

'Doesn't he understand how Ryu feels?' she thought, 'That man's the murderer of his family. I can't believe that Kudo's ideal of justice outstrips his friendship with Ryu.'

She glanced at Ryu and she saw with great surprise that he was smiling.

He bent down and put a hand on Conan's shoulder.

"I was hoping that you'd say that." he said, "I give you my word that I will not kill Scotch. I might hurt him but I won't kill him."

Conan nodded while Ai didn't know what to think anymore.

"Now listen carefully, both of you." Ryu remarked seriously, "Scotch has seen me; that arrow was a warning for me but if he's here, it means that he knows everything of Rei, too. We are his main targets and he won't rest till we're both dead. He must have seen you two so you are in danger, too. But we could take advantage of this."

"What do you mean?" Conan asked.

"Scotch doesn't know who you really are. He thinks that you are two simple seven year old kids. He probably thinks that he can finish you slowly in a second time. Listen, I'll wait here and face Scotch but you two must leave immediately. Get out of here, meet Rei and then, as soon as you three are together, leave this place immediately."

"Wait, what will you do afterwards?" Ai asked.

"Yes, you can't catch him single-handed." Conan added, "I.. we could stay and help you. We're all armed."

Ryu shook his head.

"You don't understand." he said, "If he wanted, he could have killed me before with that arrow. He's a professional; if you're not fully prepared he'll kill you without giving you time to realize it. I saw him in action, remember? I saw him kill my parents. You are just kids now and I'm sure you wouldn't be able to face him. I'm not sure I will be able to do it either."

"Then.. you.." Conan's eyes widened as he realized what Ryu was up to.

"I'll be a decoy." he said, nodding, "It's the only way to let you escape."

"No, you can't sacrifice yourself." Conan said quietly.

"It's not a sacrifice. I _have_ to do it." he said, " Our lives are entwined since the day we met; if one of us is caught, the others will be in danger too. We are like a team now and every member has his responsibilities. I realized this in the past weeks while we were together; if something goes wrong or someone makes a mistake, it's not just one person in danger. You two, Rei, me but also Agase and Matt.. We all get involved. So, if I can do something to let you escape, I'll try. Even if it's dangerous."

"But.. you could die." Ai whispered.

"If it's necessary, then.. I'll risk." Ryu said. He put a hand on their shoulders. "Just trust me and give me a chance. I'll make it somehow but you two have to escape. All right, Conan? Ai?"

He looked at both but they didn't answer. Ryu only saw concern in their eyes. His eyes softened; even though he knew that they were seventeen like him, he saw them as two simple seven-year old kids. Two kids that were his friends. Good friends.

"I didn't manage to help my sister five years ago because I didn't know what to do in a dangerous moment." he said softly, "But now, it's different; I can do something or, at least I'll try to do something. Please go away: I don't want to risk to loose someone I care again."

His words seemed to stir the other two. They looked up and nodded slightly. Ryu smiled. He took of his cap and put it on Ai's head.

"Just in case." he said, seeing her puzzled look, "Scotch might have seen you while you were in the Organisation. It's better not to risk." He then took his jacket and draped it around their shoulders. "You must always stick together. Since it's getting dark, if you hear any strange noise, cover yourselves with this. It's black and it should hide you well."

Conan didn't know what to say. Ryu was worried about them while he was the one that was going to face the greatest danger. He felt a strange feeling inside: concern, anxiety but also... anger.

Conan was mad with himself for being totally useless. He had just realized that even if he was in his true form, he wouldn't have been able to help Ryu a lot. He didn't know how to use a gun properly and he didn't have great fighting skills.

'I'd be a burden for him both as Conan and as Shinichi.' he thought bitterly, 'Haibara would be more useful than me: she has a training. I only know how to kick and how to use the stun-gun.'

Ryu glanced at him and saw the glint in his eyes. He seemed to understand how he was feeling: he had felt the same five years before. Then he heard a noise. Conan and Ai heard it too. They all froze, listening. Then unexpectedly a bang echoed throughout the cave.

_A gun shot._

"_Down_!" Ryu shouted, pulling Ai and Conan to a side. The bullet hit the rock face of the cave, a few inches from where Conan had been.

Ryu looked up and he heard approaching footsteps.

'He's coming.' he thought, 'He must have shot from outside the cave. Another warning.'

"Conan, Ai go away." he said quickly, taking out his gun.

"But.." Conan said.

"You have to go." Ryu said, cutting him, "Go and find Rei. She's in danger since she's Scotch's other target. Please, tell her to leave with you." Conan still looked doubtful. "Don't worry, Co.. Shinichi, I gave you my word. I always keep promises and if I don't do as I told you, then you have my permission to report me."

Conan looked up and nodded, giving him a trusting smile.

"All right, Ryu." he said, "Be careful."

Ryu nodded.

"You too." he said and turned to Ai. "You must be careful, too. Ok, sis?"

Ai hugged him.

"You are the one that has to be careful, Ryu-nichan." she said softly. "Take care."

"I will. Don't forget I told Rei that I won't do anything rash: she'll kill me if I break the promise." he said with a slight smile."Go now." He straightened up, "See you...later."

Conan and Ai ran towards the cave's back entrance. Ryu watched them till they disappeared from sight then turned around, taking a deep breath.

'Martini must come back.' he thought, 'For the last time..'

"Scotch!" he called loudly, "Come out and show yourself. Don't tell me that you're scared of me?"

Sarcasm dripped from his voice.

Ryu fingered the gun in his jeans back pocket as he saw a shadow approaching from the other side of the cave. He was going to see him, the man that he probably hated most. Ryu felt anger surging through his entire body but he managed to control himself.

He had to be cool and keep his calm to face Scotch. If his feelings overcame him, he was as good as dead.

"Scared of a bloody spy? I thought you knew me better, Martini." a cold voice drawled and Scotch appeared shortly after. Tall with dark hair and dressed in black, as all the other agents of the Organisation but the thing that struck most were his eyes.

Cruel grey eyes that could be compared to the eyes of a bird of prey.

"Oh, my apologies, I should call you with your real name." Scotch remarked ironically, "Am I right, Ryuji _Kazama_?"

Ryu smirked.

"Pleased to meet you again." he said with a mocking bow, "How come you're here, Scotch? Missed your faithful assistant?"

"Go on joking till you can." Scotch replied, " Where are the two brats that were hanging with you?"

"Leave them out of this." Ryu hissed, "You only want me."

"I'll take care of them later. Two kids won't be a problem." Scotch muttered. He didn't even listen to what Ryu had said. "Where's that other damn agent? Ikeda?"

"She died months ago."

"Oh, really?" Scotch stated and laughed. A cruel laughter that made a shiver run down Ryu's spine. "You really thought that I would have fallen in that girl's trap?"

Ryu felt his mouth go dry.

He didn't expect this. If the Organisation hadn't believed in Rei's death, they might have sent agents to find her. And if she got caught, it meant her death.

Scotch noticed the look on Ryu's face and sneered.

"Seems that I've guessed it right, Martini." he said, "I must admit that she had a clever idea. Everyone thinks that she's dead, including that fools of the high agents."

Ryu looked up, slightly surprised.

"They don't know?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"I was the only one that suspected something. They were all too busy finding you and Sherry: the two traitors. If Ikeda was dead, it only meant less problems for them. And speaking of trouble, this brings me in the story." He approached Ryu and stopped a few feet from him. "You and Ikeda have given me great trouble, both as two twelve year old brats and now as two FBI agents." He fingered his coat pocket with an evil grin to tell Ryu that a gun was there. " _You_ were the reason of my demotion and now the Organisation thinks that I'm in collusion with you. They have threatened to kill me if something else happens."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Ryu remarked sarcastically.

Scotch drew out his gun and pointed it to Ryu's head in a flash.

"You're playing with death, Martini." he hissed but the boy didn't react. He just stared at him colourlessly. Scotch smirked and put the gun away.

"You're brave and that's a quality I appreciate." he said, "I'm really tempted to wipe that damn smirk from your face but.. business first..."

Ryu raised an eyebrow.

"Business?" he repeated.

"The devices, Martini. I want the devices your father was working on."

"The project has been destroyed. _You_ destroyed it when you set my house on fire." Ryu was struggling to keep his anger down but it was getting harder every moment.

"You'd better not lie to me. I know that you have carried on the project. I've controlled all the work you've done for the Organisation and I noticed that every time you took some material. The necessary material to make the devices."

"So, why do you want the devices?" Ryu asked, taking his time. "Wait, let me guess; if you take the devices to the Organisation, they will forget your previous mistakes and probably trust you more, right? Otherwise, let's see... You could try to take me to your side and then find out where the devices are. But in both cases you would get rid of me, right? I was troublesome for you, Scotch. A skilled engineer that could take your place..."

There was fire in Scotch's eyes but his tone was cold as usual.

"Nearly all right, Martini. I would have never taken you to our side, not because I feared you but because you're son of your father."

"What's my father got to do with this?" Ryu asked as a his insides squirmed unpleasantly.

"I was working on a project, I found a company to back me up but then.. Misaki Kazama showed up." Scotch snarled, "His project interested the company and they decided to back him, neglecting my work. I wanted to make him pay and I found the way to get my revenge when the Organisation ordered me to get rid of a scientist that had refused to cooperate." Scotch smiled evilly. "Vengeance is sweet. You don't know how much I hoped to be the one that would have finished Kazama. You should have seen his face when I shot him. He didn't even realize that he was dying. Still too shocked by his wife's death. -Oh, but you know that, don't you? You saw everything."

Ryu didn't answer. He was actually trembling with fury, fists clenched on his sides.

"Angry, are you?" Scotch remarked, "So, Martini, are you giving me the devices?"

"_No_." Ryu replied, "I'd rather kill myself than give _you_ my father's work."

"The same thing your father said when they asked him to enter the Organisation._ I'd rather kill myself than give you my work." _Scotch's eyes were fixed on Ryu."I must admit that you look a lot like him. When you first showed up, I noticed some similarities. I didn't trust you but the others did and they also let you work for us. You sure know how to act, Martini. No one ever thought you were an infiltrate.. But the past is past." Scotch fingered his pocket again, "Since you don't want to cooperate, I'll have to treat you in the way traitors are usually treated."

Ryu slowly stepped to his right, next to a big rock.

"If you kill me, you'll never know where the devices are." he said.

"I'll try to get something from the kids that were with you. They probably know where you live and I could find something interesting there." Scotch replied, a twisted smile creeping on his face again, "Otherwise, if Ikeda is around, I could torture one of the kids to let her come out and finish her too. I don't know, I'll think about it later. First you."

He drew out his gun in a flash and fired towards Ryu but he dodged just in time, shielding himself behind the rock at his side.

The sound of the shot reverberated throughout the cave hiding every other noise. Ryu steadied himself and jumped out and threw himself against Scotch. The gun was knocked out of the man's hand and flew a few feet away. Scotch, expecting some kind of attack, was not unprepared and stepped back, balancing Ryu's weight with his, without falling over. The boy hit the man hard in the stomach, hoping it could hurt him but it didn't have a great effect. He had underestimated the other's strength.

Scotch grabbed him around the shoulder and just threw him against the rocky walls of the cave. All the air left his body at the impact with the hard surface and before the boy could realize what had happened, Scotch grabbed him again and threw on the other side of the cave. Ryu got hit frontally this time; he felt a sharp jolt at his chest and tasted dust mingled with his own blood. Instinct took over and when Scotch tugged at his arm again, Ryu managed to turn around and dodged the punch directed at his face,

'It's now or never.' he thought, focusing on his opponent.

He dropped on a knee and kicked the man's feet with the other leg. Scotch lost his balance and fell to the ground; in the meanwhile, Ryu had already slipped behind him, pinning his arm on his back and blocked him, face down, on the ground. He took his gun from his pocket and pointed it to Scotch's head. Scotch struggled but Ryu's grip was firm.

Ryu was breathing hard and his heart was pounding in his chest. The fight had been hard and his body was aching all over but only now he realised the enormity of the situation.

He was pointing a gun to the murderer of his family.

Ever since he knew who Scotch was, he had always been tempted to shoot him. Every time he saw him while he worked in the Organisation as Martini, he felt anger and hatred overcome him. It took all his willpower to control himself and maintain his calm. He couldn't react then because he had his work to do. He was an FBI agent undercover, not a murderer.

But now.. it was different.

'FBI considers me a traitor and my life's in danger because the Organisation wants me dead.' he thought, still pointing the gun to Scotch, 'It's easy... The gun's already loaded. One shot and it's all.. over... all the anger, the hatred and the feelings of revenge that I've felt for five years will vanish...'

Images flashed in his mind.

His family. His mother, his father, his sister.. The moments they had spent together. While they were having dinner together, talking and laughing or just being together.

Then it changed. The images turned black and white, the happiness was sucked away.

His mother and his father shot, the blood stain on their chests enlarging. His sister screaming for help, huddled in the far corner of her bed as the fire got closer to her.

Ryu was trembling. The gun was trembling in his hands. Scotch noticed it.

"Martini, why don't you kill me?" he whispered, "It's easy: just pull the trigger. The gun does the rest. That's what I did to your parents. Nothing easier."

The taunt about his parents rang in Ryu's ears as though Scotch had shouted it.

The image of Françoise flashed in his mind.

A boiling hatred erupted in Ryu's chest, leaving no place for doubts. He grasped the gun tightly and loaded it. A soft click echoed in the cave.

"You're right." he said coldly, "It's easy: one shot and you disappear. You don't deserve to live after what you have done."

'What do I care if he dies?' he thought, 'He's only a damn murderer! He killed my family, Rei's parents and who knows how many others. I'd just do a favour to the world... I'll do a favour to myself. I'll feel better and my pain will reduce.'

The moment he thought this, other images came to his mind.

Mr and Mrs Xanders. They had treated him as a son, welcoming his in their house and loving him as though he was really their child. Matt. His friend, the one that behaved as an elder brother to him. Agase that had made him stay in his house even though he was a stranger for him.

Then other three people's images revolved in his head.

Conan who was a good friend and that was so alike to him, Ai who resembled so much to his sister and was like one for him, besides being a friend and then... Rei who was a friend, a confidante and also.. the person he cared most.

_"You would do a foolish thing. A very foolish thing staying alone with him."_

_"I give you my word I won't kill, Scotch."_

The promise that he had made to Conan came back to his mind. He thought of his little friend who was actually seventeen like him.

'He knew that this would happen.' he thought, 'That's why he didn't want to leave. He knew that I would have doubted.. that I'd be tempted. If I shoot Scotch now... if I kill him.. I won't even be able to look at him.. or Ai... or Rei or anyone else without feeling like a criminal. What difference will there be between me and Scotch then? Nothing. We'd both be cold-blooded murderers.'

Ryu slowly glanced at his right hand. The gun was still there. He felt its cold metallic surface against his sweaty hand.

"Well, Martini, what are you doing?" Scotch provoked him, " Too coward to kill a man? Come on.."

Anger surged in his heart again but Ryu knew what to do this time. He shook his head, as though shaking off all the negative feelings in his mind and smirked.

"No." he said, "I'm not like you."

He hit Scotch on the head. The man passed out and Ryu slipped the gun in his pocket again. He suddenly felt lighter.

Ryu got up and headed to his backpack. He needed to drink some water and maybe clean his face. He had smashed against the wall and he felt a trickle of blood going down his cheek. He winced slightly as he walked as his ribs were aching painfully.

He had hardly reached the bag that he heard a soft click behind him. He turned around slowly and saw Scotch on his feet, a line of blood oozing down his front, pointing his gun to him. He had that devilish smile on his face again and Ryu felt cold shivers run down his spine.

"Never be tender with an enemy, Martini." Scotch warned, "Never."

The trigger was pulled before Ryu had the chance to duck or even move. The bullet hit him and he doubled over for the searing pain at his waist and fell to the ground. Blood soaked his shirt, glasses askew on his face.

Scotch approached him.

"Don't worry, Martini, you won't suffer for long." he hissed, towering over the limp figure, "I'll go and take care of that kids and of Ikeda, if she's here. You can't help them. I don't think you'll be able to move. You'll die for blood-loss. You should thank me actually. You'll meet your parents soon.

Goodbye, Martini.. no.. Ryuji Kazama."

Ryu looked up and saw his shadow leave the cave. The light was growing dimmer around him..

As the pain grew stronger, images flashed in his mind again..

_"Be careful, Ryu."_

_"Take care, Ryu-nichan."_

"I'm sorry Rei... Ai." he whispered softly, coughing. A trickle of blood came out of his mouth. "I've broken my promise..."

Then it was all black.

* * *

Minor changes have been made.

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	13. Anger, concern, hope?

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Detective Conan .

-...- dialogue through transceivers.

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

_**Chapter 12**_

_Anger, concern and...hope?  
_

Conan and Ai were walking quickly through the woods.

They had to meet Rei near the oak tree where they had stopped nearly two hours ago. They were walking close to each other, Ryu's jacket draped on their shoulders but didn't talk.

They were both silent and anxious. They were both worried for Ryu. It had been more than ten minutes since they had left him at the cave to face Scotch alone.

Ai drew out a compass from her backpack and looked at it.

"That way." she said, pointing to her right, putting the instrument in her pocket. Conan nodded. They were going to go down the path Ai had pointed out when they heard a noise that made them freeze on the spot.

_A gunshot._

They whipped around in unison.

"It came from the cave." Conan remarked, "What do you think? Haibara?"

The girl didn't answer. The boy saw pure concern and panic in her eyes shaded by the cap.

"That wasn't an automatic." she said softly, "It was a revolver."

Conan barely had time to marvel inwardly on Ai's knowledge of weapons that realisation hit him like a punch in the stomach.

"Ryu hasn't fired." he said quietly. "Scotch has."

He looked towards the direction where the cave was and felt a dreading feeling. He was worried. Immensely. He wondered if Ryu was fine or if... Conan shook his head.

'Don't even think of that, Kudo!' he mentally told himself.

He turned to Ai.

"We must go." he said shortly.

"What?" she asked in disbelief, turning to him.

"Don't misunderstand. I'm worried too but I think we should get Rei. Then we'll decide what to do."

He began to walk and she followed him but there was an odd look on her face. They walked for another ten minutes without sharing a word. The meeting place was getting close.

Suddenly, Ai stopped.

Conan stopped when he felt the jacket slip away from his shoulders. It covered only Ai now.

"What's wrong?" he asked slightly surprised. He noticed that she had a strange glint in her eyes.

"Why did you tell Ryu not to kill Scotch?" she asked.

Conan sensed anger in her tone; he knew that she cared for Ryu in the same way he cared for Rei but he never thought he'd actually see her get angry.

"Do you want him to become a murderer?" he asked in reply, turning to her.

"Kudo, he's not facing a common criminal. Scotch is a member of the Organisation. He's a professional trained to kill. You can't be merciful. None of them will have mercy for you."

"I didn't say that we had to be merciful with them!"

"Then what? Why did you tell Ryu not to shoot him?"

"I don't want him to be a murderer." Conan looked away.

"You don't want or you won't let him be a murderer?" Sarcasm dripped from Ai's voice. "You threatened to report him if he shot Scotch."

She glared at Conan.

"You and your damn sense of justice." she muttered under her breath. Unfortunately, he heard her.

"What do you mean?" he asked coldly.

Ai turned to him. She felt a wave emotions overcome her. Anxiety, concern but most of all, anger mingled with fear.

Ai was scared.

Scared of being found by the Organisation, scared that her identity could be revealed, scared that the people around her would have died because of her. She was afraid of loosing the people she cared for. Like Agase, Rei, Ryu and.. Kudo.

Especially Kudo.

But, at the same time, she felt a wave of anger towards him. The way he had talked to Ryu before...

Hadn't he still realised what the Organisation could really do? Was he really so naif?

"What's more important for you, Kudo?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady, " Your ideal of justice or Ryu's safety?"

"They're both important." he replied. He seemed to be struggling to keep his voice steady, too.

"Really? Then _why_ did you force him to face a murderer disarmed? No, let me finish, first." She snapped when he tried to retort. "Ryu will keep his word. He has your same sense of honour. I would understand if it was another situation, but what I ask you now, Kudo, is why do you want to save a murderer's life? He doesn't deserve mercy. He deserves death."

Conan didn't answer. Ai felt anger building inside her.

"Is your ideal of justice so important to you? So important that it outstrips your loyalty towards a friend?" she pressed on, "Don't you understand? Ryu's lost his family because of same goes for Rei. Why don't you want to let him get his revenge? It could make him feel better." She approached him, stood in front and looked him straight in the eyes. "_Who_ do you think you are, Kudo, to decide what's wrong and what's right? Only because you're a detective, only because you believe in a lofty ideal like justice, do you think that you can decide for everyone? The world's not so perfect, Kudo. You can't solve everything with honesty and justice. You have to make compromises sometimes ..even if they're wrong."

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Conan exclaimed, not standing it anymore. He was clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles were white. "I know _that_, Haibara. I know that honesty and justice can't do everything but I don't accept compromises. No, now _you_ let _me_ speak." He snapped raising his voice, as she tried to talk. "There is a reason if I told Ryu not to kill Scotch. It's true, he's only a damn murderer and he deserves death but.. that's not right. Vengeance is not right."

"Why not?" Ai asked sarcastically, "It goes against your ideal of justice?"

"_Yes_." he replied coolly, "I know what you think. Justice is only a mere ideal. Why should someone care of it? It's better to go on one's way, right? Kill if it's right, get revenge when you have to.

Sorry, but I don't accept it. I believe in an ideal and I don't care if I'm the only one that believes in it. You're right. I'm no one and I don't have the right to tell the others what to do but if someone I care is going to do something that he might regret, well in that case, I will try my best to persuade him. I'm sure Ryu will regret it if he kills Scotch.

In the past weeks, we have become friends and I found out how his true character is. He is loyal, honest and he would never hurt someone but.. when feelings and vengeance overcome you... you don't know what you'd be able to do. I've seen it, Haibara. Many times." Conan stopped talking, as though something had blocked his voice.

Ai was startled, not by his words but by his eyes. Bitterness, anger and sorrow seemed to mix up in those dark blue orbs.

"Do you think it's easy to be a detective?" he asked softly out of the blue, "There are times that I.. hate myself. I once had to tell a woman that murdered the man she loved that she had been wrong. She thought that he played with her feelings and didn't care of her; instead, the boy truly loved her more than anyone else and was just too introvert to show his feelings and hid them behaving harshly 1 .

I have done it many times. I have told the.. the truth even when it would have been better to keep it quiet. Even when I knew that it would have been painful. But the truth _has_ to be said. That's why I put so much strain on my work as a detective. I'm the one that has to reveal the truth hidden under lies and ingenious coverings."

"What's this got to do with Ryu?" Ai asked coldly. She immediately regretted her tone; she didn't mean it but she really didn't understand where he was getting at.

Conan looked up. His eyes still had that strange glint.

"Murders happen for many reasons, Haibara. Hate, envy, greed but most of all.. vengeance. The latter can happen for many reasons, too. You can take revenge for a wrong or, as it often happens, for a loss. And in this last case, the murderer becomes a victim too. This brings me to Ryu. You're right when you say that he should kill Scotch. He's the murderer of Ryu's family and deserves it but I don't think Ryu would feel better after that. He would only feel worse and who knows what he'd do. I know what happens it these cases. I've seen it.. I won't let it happen.. Never again."

Ai looked up when she registered the word -_again_.

'What does he mean?' she thought and was going to ask him when she heard a noise. A broken twig. Someone was coming close to them.

Conan grabbed her hand and dragged her towards a path on his right.

"Come on! We have to go." he whispered urgently. "We have wasted time talking instead of going to meet Rei... Damn.. what a mistake! Scotch might not be the only agent here." He looked around. "It's getting dark... maybe we can hide using Ryu's jacket to camouflage ourselves but we have to find a good place."

They ran down the path and after a bit, they reached a fork.

"I think we should go left." he said, "We reached the oak tree walking south. Come on."

He was going to walk when he felt Ai's hand leave his. He turned around and saw her staring him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, "Listen, if you're mad with me for what I said to Ryu, I can explain. But _not_ now. We have to go. Someone's after us."

"It's better if we split here, Kudo."

Conan's eyes widened as she said this.

"What? Now? Here?" he asked, "_Why?_"

"It would be harder for whoever is after us to track us if we separate." she replied, "They can't follow both."

"We have to stay together; that's what Ryu said remember? And it would be dangerous to split. We aren't well-prepared."

Conan's mind was working fast. He had to find a way to keep Ai at his side. He felt uneasy at the thought of separating from her. Not that he didn't trust her. He trusted her a lot. gone were the days when thought that she was just a cold-blooded criminal of the Organisation. But the last time they had parted, she had found herself facing Gin and Vodka alone, had tried to get killed in a bomb explosion and had also made him think that she had left for good. He didn't want her to risk her life again. Neither let her disappear.

Ai glanced at the boy and noticed the worried look on his face. Unfortunately, she misunderstood.

"I know it's dangerous, Kudo." she said coolly, "But don't worry, the development of the antidote is nearly over and it's all saved in my laptop. If I get caught, or worse, Agase can finish the final testing and prepare the cure for you."

Conan looked at her, totally bewildered.

"_WHAT?_" he exclaimed loudly, "You think that I'm worried of the antidote now? I say, Haibara, have you gone mad or what?"

Ai looked slightly surprised by his reaction but didn't show it.

"Why are you so concerned then?" she asked in her usual tone.

Conan stepped in front of her and took her by the shoulders.

"I am worried for _you_, Haibara." he said, still in a high voice and shaking her slightly, "You Baka, how could you think I was worried for the antidote?"

Ai's mask shattered when she heard these words: astonishment was clearly visible on her face.

"You're more in danger than I am." Conan added, releasing her from his grip, "I would be a fool to let you go around alone and.."

He couldn't finish the sentence.

Someone had grabbed him from behind. He turned to Ai and saw that she was in his same situation. The person's hands were over their mouths and was dragging them into a clump of bushes hidden by a tree. They tried to struggle but the grip was firm.

Too firm for two kids.

_"It's me. Don't make a sound."_

Conan and Ai recognized the voice and relaxed. Just then, they heard the sound of approaching footsteps. It was a heavy tread.

'Probably a man.' Conan thought.

Then realisation hit him. If they had not been dragged into the bushes, the man would have approached them easily. They wouldn't have noticed him coming since they were talking loudly. They waited in silence. The footsteps were getting closer. It seemed that the man was walking around them. After a few minutes, they heard the footsteps' sound falter till it was gone.

"It's better if we don't move. He might be around to see if we show up. Keep your voices down. By the way, I'm sorry but grabbing you from behind was the quickest way I thought of to hide you."

The grip loosened and Conan and Ai turned around.

"_Rei?_" Conan said in surprise.

"How did you find us?" Ai asked.

Rei frowned slightly.

"Your loud voices." she said, "The battery of the x-ray glasses had finished and I was wondering where you were. We should have met twenty minutes ago. Thanks God I was nearby or you two would have been caught. You have chosen the worst moment to have an argument. What was going on, anyway?"

"Er-" Conan stammered while Ai kept silent.

"Well, all right, you'll tell me later. But why are you two alone?" Rei asked in concern, "Where's Ryu?"

Conan and Ai looked at each other and quickly explained what had happened after she had left. Rei slowly nodded her head when they finished. Her face was pale as a sheet but her voice was calm when she spoke.

"Scotch has showed up and Ryu is facing him alone, right?" she repeated softly, "That explains the two gunshots I heard."

"Two?" Conan said, "We heard only one."

"I heard the second less than ten minutes ago. You probably didn't notice it."

"What are we going to do now?" Ai asked.

"I'm not sure." Rei replied, "What Ryu told you is right: it would be better if the three of us left this place but.. I.. we can't leave him here. He's in danger as much as we are. Maybe.. you two.." She looked at them and only then noticed what was draped on Ai's shoulders. Rei's eyes widened and her heartbeat raised alarmingly.

"Ai? Wh.. why are you wearing Ryu's jacket?" she asked. It seemed that she was straing to keep her voice steady.

Ai looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"Ryu gave it to me and Kudo." she answered, wondering why this detail was so important, "He said that we could have used it to cover ourselves, in case we had to hide."

"Rei, are you all right?" Conan asked, seeing that the girl had turned white.

"He didn't tell you, did he?" she asked instead, "Of course, otherwise you two would have never accepted. Oh God, how can he be so... so... _irresponsible_?"

"Rei, _what's wrong?_ Conan demanded.

"Ryu's jacket and my denim jacket have a bullet-proof vest sewn inside." she replied softly, after a moment of silence, "That's why we wear them all the time. Nobody would notice it but it keeps us protected everytime. But... if he gave it to you, it means that...now.. he's totally unprotected."

Conan and Ai were thunderstruck: Ryu had given them his defences.

They both thought of the shots that they had heard.

Rei glanced at them and saw the look on their faces.

'Typical of you, Ryu.' she thought, smiling sadly, 'First the others and then yourself...'

Ryu and Rei had a strange attitude towards Conan and Ai. They knew that they were teenagers just as they were but at sight, they were only two children. Rei knew that in that state they couldn't face an agent of the Organisation even with all their experience and Agase's devices. Their help and knowledge was irreplaceable but in a frontal encounter where strength and agility were required, they couldn't have made it.

'That's why you did it, Ryu. We could try to get through it but they can't. We're a team that works together and that has to help each other. You always say that.'

"I noticed that the gun shots sounded as revolver shots." Rei added, " It means that Scotch has fired. Ryu had an automatic and you said that he gave Ai the revolver."

"But it doesn't mean that Ryu got shot." Conan retorted weakly, even though he didn't believe very much what he was saying.

The girls didn't answer. They both knew that there weren't many possibilities that Ryu could be unharmed. He was facing a professional murderer.

"I think that we should do as he had asked." Rei said finally.

_"What?"_ Conan exclaimed, "But.. before.. you said that we couldn't leave him alone."

"Yes, I know..but.. I have to think of our work in first place." she replied, "If we get caught trying to help him, everything we have done till now will be useless. Ryu and I are not the only ones involved. There are you and Ai, Matt and his father, Agase and even your parents. I can't be so selfish to risk all these lives just to save one."

"Wait a minute, Rei, we can't.." he started to retort when Ai tugged his sleeve. He turned around, quite annoyed, wondering what she wanted. Ai looked at him and then glanced at Rei.

Conan glanced at her too and he noticed that she was trembling slightly. Her fists were clenched and he couldn't see her facial expressions because she was looking down and her bangs was covering her eyes.

'If it's hard for me and Haibara, it must be extremely hard for her to leave Ryu here.' he thought. 'What a fool.. I didn't even think of it.'

"So, shall we go?" Rei asked quietly after a while.

Conan and Ai nodded. They slowly got up and left their hiding place.

"The car's not far." Rei said, starting to walk, "We should reach in less than thirty minutes. We must be careful, he might still be aroun.. _What the hell?_" Rei jumped back a few steps quickly.

Something had just missed her for a few inches. She turned to her right and saw an arrow stuck to a tree's log. She looked down at Conan and Ai who had paled in an instant.

"Don't tell me that.." she said. The other girl stared at her and Rei got her answer.

"A crossbow arrow's a warning." Conan remarked.

"He's here." Ai whispered.

_"Waiting in silence has been worth. Look who we have here"_

The three slowly turned around as they heard the cold voice.

A man was there: tall, dark hair, grey eyes and dressed in black. He had a small crossbow in one hand and a gun in the other. He looked as though he had fought because there was dirt on his black coat. Minuscule red drops were scattered on his grey shirt and line of blood went down a cut on the side of his head. He was also sporting a bloody lip.

Scotch stood there, smirking evilly at them.

Conan, Ai and Rei didn't move: they just stood there, transfixed as realisation crashed on them.

Scotch was there to kill them. And since he was there, it meant that he had defeated Ryu.

And that would mean that Ryu was...

Both Conan and Ai shuddered at the only thought.

Rei's stare was fixed on the man: she was facing her parents' murderer for the first time. She slowly tried to take the revolver that was in her jeans' back pocket.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Ikeda." Scotch remarked, "Otherwise one of the kids next to you will pay a very high price for it."

She immediately stopped. He was a professional and she didn't want to risk.

"Where is Ryu?" Rei asked loudly. She had to know the truth. Making hypothesis was useless.

"Ryu? Oh yes, Martini." he drawled. "Well, he should have reached his damn father by now."

Rei's brain reeled while Conan and Ai's mind went blank with shock. Ryu was... _dead_?

"You're lying." Rei retorted after a few moments, "He.. he can't be dead."

Scotch laughed.

"Why should I lie, Ikeda? To frighten you and those kids? No need at all... You're already scared because you know you can't get away." he said, pointing the gun towards them and then lowering it, "Martini put on fight and he could have nearly beaten me but, at the end, his nobility killed him. He didn't shoot me when he had the chance. He didn't want to."

Conan felt a cold, plunging sensation in his stomach as he heard this.

'I've told Ryu not to shoot...' he thought desperately, 'But I didn't want this.. I didn't want this to happen! Oh God, Haibara was right. I forced him to face a murderer disarmed.'

He didn't dare to turn around. He couldn't stand to face her eyes and the accusation in them. He couldn't bare to see the pain and anger in her light blue orbs.

Rei didn't move. An image of Ryu's face and his smile crossed her mind and she felt something inside her just.. shatter. She suddenly felt void.

She looked up and her eyes found Scotch. Anger and hatred surged in her heart.

'First my mother and my father' she thought, 'And now... Ryu...'

If she had been alone, she would have seized her chances and tried to face Scotch but she knew that she couldn't risk with Conan and Ai on her sides. If she only dared to touch her gun, Scotch would have killed one of them. It was a risk that had a price too high to pay.

She had to wait for the right moment and in the meanwhile, she had to play for time...yes, but how?

"If I had known that you and Martini would have given me so much trouble, I would have found a way to get rid of you two five years ago." Scotch said, fingering his gun. "The Organisation is having strong suspicions on my loyalty. They think that I'm in collusion with you two. _Me_? With two FBI agents? However..." The man's steel-like eyes fell on Rei. "If you weren't an agent, I would work with you Ikeda. It's astonishing that at your young age, you've been able to force the security filters I've created. There's a vacant position in the scientific section since Martini has shown his true colours. What do you think of leaving those losers, Ikeda? Why not occupy that position yourself?"

Conan stared at Scotch.

Ai thought that she had misunderstood.

Rei couldn't believe her ears.

Scotch was asking _her_ to join the Organisation? To work together? After all that the Organisation had done to her and to the ones close to her?

"_No_." she replied, trying to control her anger, " I'm not like you. You're just a murderer. You killed my parents."

"I should have expected this answer." Scotch said, shaking his head slightly as though he couldn't understand why she was throwing away such a chance. "You're all the same: you, your parents, Martini, his father... All believers of mere ideals such as honesty and justice or maybe just too foolish to understand the true powers of the Organisation. That's what your parents did, Ikeda. They refused to join us and they underestimated our reaction." He smirked seeing the fire in Rei's eyes. "Getting rid of your parents was very easy, you know? Being a diplomat and a well-known lawyer, they went everywhere with an escort so I couldn't face them frontally. That's why I decided to put a small controller in their car: efficient, easy to control, and invisible. Everyone would have thought it was an accident. And that's what happened: everybody thinks that it has been the driver's mistake. But no one knows that the car's brakes stopped working suddenly and that the accelerator was blocked. That's what really happened and no one knows it, except me... oh, and you know it too but it doesn't count. You won't be able to tell it around."

Conan had seen many criminals confess their crimes but he had never seen one that talked about them so calmly without any trace of guilt.

Scotch was enjoying himself as he talked about the murder.

Ai was not so surprised: she knew how the men of the Organisation were. Gin and Vodka were an example that she could hardly forget.

Rei was trembling with fury. She had never felt so much hatred and anger as that moment. She took out her gun without even realising what she was doing and pointed it to Scotch who had his gun out as well.

"Angry, are you?" he hissed, " You want to kill me, right? Martini had your same face before but I knew he wouldn't dare to fire. And I know you won't, too. You both said the same thing. _I'm not like you_. Well, let's see.."

Conan and Ai looked at Rei with anxiety. The gun was trembling in her right hand. Her whole right arm was shaking. They knew that she couldn't fire in that conditions: she wouldn't be able to do it.

"I have plenty of things to ask you so put that down, Ikeda or.. let's see.. the little boy will pay for your actions and reach Martini soon." Scotch threatened, aiming at Conan, "It's my last warning."

"All right." Rei said, lowering her gun. "Don't touch them. They are not involved."

"I'll think of that later but now throw the gun on the ground." he ordered.

Rei did as he said.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Yes, let's talk about business." he remarked, "I want all the material Martini has stolen from the Organisation, the material you have worked on and the devices." Scotch noticed how Rei's eyes widened. "You're wondering how I know all this, huh? I have to admit that you and Martini have been clever. Your plan was nearly perfect but you didn't consider me. I got suspicious when I first met Martini. His resemblance with his father was striking but I kept my suspects to myself. I wanted to know what he was up to and I wanted his father's project. I knew that he had to have a copy of the project. I waited patiently but he was careful not to be caught. I realised that I had to discover what I wanted to know in another way. I began to make some researches on my own, without informing the Organisation, and I found out some interesting facts."

Conan was beginning to feel uneasy. Scotch was still pointing his gun at him while he spoke but this wasn't the only thing that was bothering him.

Knowing Rei, he knew that she would have never given Scotch what he had asked and that meant that he would kill them right away.

'What can I do?' he thought, 'Scotch's a professional. I don't think that I can fool him with the stun-gun. Rei's disarmed but Haibara's got a gun. Maybe.. we two can do something. I hope so...'

_-Conan.. -_

His thoughts were interrupted abruptly and the boy nearly jumped when he heard the soft whisper. He recognized the soft, slightly worn voice immediately but couldn't believe his ears nor understand where it came from.

_- Conan, if you hear me, tap once on the transceiver's speaker. -_

Conan slowly reached to his glasses, hoping that Scotch wouldn't notice his movement and gave a slight tap to the right side. He swiftly stepped sideways, behind Rei, so that the right side of his body would be hidden.

No one noticed him. Scotch was still talking about the way he had tracked down the two fugitive agents. Rei and Ai were too busy worrying about him to notice what Conan was doing.

_-Good, you hear me... I was hoping that the batteries hadn't finished. Scotch is with you, right? I've just turned on the transceiver and I recognized his voice. Are you all there? You, Ai and Rei? Tap once for yes or twice for no. -_

TAP.

_- Is anyone hurt? -_

TAP TAP.

_-Thanks God.. Listen, I'm not far from where you are. I'm using the radar on my glasses but I'm injured: Scotch has shot me. You'll have to help me. We have to take Scotch by surprise. I can't face him frontally in this state and Rei can't either: he's terribly strong. I'll contact you again when I'll be near, ok? -_

TAP.

_-Hear you later. -_

Conan felt warm relief sweep him. He would have laughed but he managed to control himself and stepped back to Rei's side.

"That's how I found out everything about you and Martini." Scotch went on, "The next step was easy. I only had to wait and see if one of you showed up. At last, this afternoon, I saw Martini walking with these two brats. He recognized me and contacted you but I knew all your moves and came here shortly after you did. I found Martini and finished him and now it's your turn. Ikeda, are you going to give me what I've asked?"

"No." Rei said firmly, shaking her head.

Scotch smirked.

"I expected a more sensible answer from you, Ikeda." he stated, "Let's see what you'll say.." He loaded his gun and aimed at Conan. " After this!"

Rei pulled the boy behind her but Scotch was not a fool. He knew that she would have done it. He turned and fired at Ai.

Rei managed to step in front of her just in time and threw out her arms, shielding her. The bullet hit her and Rei felt a searing pain at her right arm. She dropped on her knees, clutching her injured arm with her left hand.

"_Rei_!" Conan and Ai shouted, getting closer to her.

"I'm... I'm fine." she said, gritting her teeth.

"Rei..?" Ai asked, concern in her tone and in her eyes, "Why..?"

Rei looked at her arm and saw her left hand and arm soaked in red. She was bleeding profusely: the bullet had gone deep in her arm. She suddenly realised that escaping couldn't be possible. Not for her but..

"Go away.." she whispered, "Both of you."

"What?" Conan said, kneeling down close to her.

"I'll find a way to block him. Go away." she hissed, "Please, Shinichi, Ai."

"No." Ai said.

"We're not leaving." Conan agreed with her.

Scotch had been watching them the whole time and arched an eyebrow in amusement.

"I don't understand why you and Martini are so concerned about that two kids." he remarked, "Worried for two.. strangers."

"They're _not_ strangers." Rei bellowed, standing up. She was still clutching her bleeding arm.

"_No_? What are they then?" Scotch asked sarcastically, "Friends? Come on, who would do the mistake of risking his own life for someone else?"

The pain was getting worse. Rei felt slightly faintish but decided to resist whatever happened.

"Yes, they're my friends." she stated, " The best friends I've ever had. And I'm not going to let you hurt them in any way."

"How noble of you." Scotch remarked ironically, "Do you want to shield them from my gun shots? Is life so worthless for you?"

"I don't care." she replied, "I care for them more than I care for myself. I won't let you hurt them." She stepped in front of Conan and Ai as though challenging the man.

Ai looked at her. Her words had touched her deeply. Rei had referred to them as her best friends. _Her, _Ai Haibara.. no, Shiho Miyano? Rei considered her a friend for whom it was worth risking her life. It was something new for Ai: the Organisation had always taught her the opposite.

Think only of yourself.

The only person that had been so selfless was Akemi. She had died trying to get her out of the Organisation.

'Not only One-chan and Rei.' she thought, 'Kudo saved me at the bus-jack and Ryu during the car accident. Do they all care for me at that point? Kudo, Ryu and Rei consider _me_, a member of the Organisation, a criminal, a friend for whom they'd risk their lives?'

Conan was wondering what to do. He was worried sick for Rei and felt, for the second time that day, completely useless. A buzz at his transceiver alerted him that he was going to be contacted.

_-Conan, what's going on? I heard a gun shot. Is someone hurt? -_

TAP.

_-Who? Ai? Rei? -_

Conan tapped first no and then yes. He heard the answer after a few moments and the voice was filled with concern.

_-Badly? -_

TAP TAP.

_-Scotch is getting irritated, right? -_

TAP.

_-I'm near you. Listen carefully, you'll have to help me. -_

TAP.

_-All right... when I say "Now", you hit Scotch with the stun-gun. Aim at his right arm, ok? In this way he shouldn't be able to hold the gun anymore. I'll take him from behind. Tell Ai to keep her gun ready. She must shoot his left arm after I block him. Can you do it? -_

TAP.

_-Let's pray everything goes wel. Otherwise... Wait the signal. -_

The contact broke off again.

Conan slowly put his hands behind his back and began to prepare his stun-gun.

'I only have one shot.' he thought, 'No mistakes, Kudo, or you'll die and everyone else will die with you.'

He turned to his right. He had to inform Haibara about the plan. Now.

He slowly reached for her hand. Ai nearly jumped up when she felt his hand brush hers. She quickly turned to him.

"What?" she mouthed.

"Take gun out.." he muttered to her out of the corner of his mouth, "Shoot left arm when I tell you."

'What on earth does he want to do?' Ai thought, noticing that he had his stun-gun ready behind his back. She slowly slipped her gun from her jacket pocket and hid it behind her back.

In the meanwhile, Scotch was getting angry. His patience was running out.

"Ikeda, I've had enough of you. For the last time, where are the devices and all the material you have taken from the Organisation?"

"I don't know." she replied.

"Too bad. You'll be the first to reach Martini. Don't worry, your friends will follow you soon." he said, loading the gun. He pointed it straight to Rei ready to pull the trigger.

_- NOW! -_

Conan jumped in front of Rei, aiming the stun-gun at Scotch. The hypodermic needle stung his right arm.

Scotch, that didn't expect a reaction from the two kids, was totally taken back. He tried to shoot but couldn't. His entire right arm was paralysed. He was going to change hand and shoot with the left when he noticed a movement, a shadow.

A figure seized him from behind, making the gun slip out of his hand and knocking him to the ground. It took Scotch a few seconds to register who his attacker was.

His eyes widened with shock. Rei and Ai gasped while Conan grinned widely.

"Martini?" Scotch asked dumbfounded, "How..? You're _alive_?"

Ryu smirked, seeing the other's surprise.

"Seems that God doesn't want me around him, yet." he replied, straightening the chipped glasses on his nose.

Scotch roared with anger and flung himself towards Ryu. The dodged a few assaults, wincing as he moved, and quickly found himself standing, a few feet away from Conan, Ai and Rei. He shot a quick glance at Conan who understood right away what he had to do.

Scotch threw himself against Ryu again and as he dodged it, Conan turned to Ai.

"Haibara, _now_!" he shouted.

Ai aimed the gun at Scotch's left arm and fired. The bullet hit him and Scotch crumpled to the ground. The whole place went silent.

Ai lowered the gun, cold sweat dampening her forehead. Rei slowly got up, clutching her bleeding arm. Ryu gasped for air, clutching his bleeding waist.

Conan walked towards the other boy who was next to Scotch's body.

"Is he...?" he asked.

"He's not dead." Ryu replied, turning to him, "My revolver's bullets have the same hypodermic substance that your stun-gun's needle uses." He smiled slightly. "Agase told me to use it. Just in case. Scotch will be knocked out for a few hours."

Conan smiled. A smile full of relief.

Ryu turned around to Rei and Ai. The girls were both too stunned to speak: they just looked at him as though he was a ghost.

"Rei? Are you all right?" he asked, approaching her, "Conan told me that Scotch shot you. How's your arm?"

She just stared at him, unable to register the fact that Ryu was...indeed.. alive.

"I'm... fine." she heard herself say.

"What do you mean Kudo told you that Rei was injured?" Ai asked. She had recovered from the shock of seeing Ryu alive quicker than Rei.

"I used the transceiver on my glasses to contact him." Ryu replied softly, leaning on a tree log, "I did it as soon as I came around and I found your position with the radar."

Rei came back to senses at his words. She finally looked at him and gasped. Ryu's shirt was dirty and soaked with blood, especially the part around the waist. He had cuts around his face and a line of blood went down his forehead.

Still clutching her arm, she approached him.

"Are you all right, Ryu?" she asked, "We heard two shots."

He smiled slightly, sliding down the tree log a bit.

"I don't feel _exactly_ well but we can talk about that later. What are we going to do with him?" he asked, turning towards Scotch's body.

"I can call the police using the bow-tie to modify my voice and tell them to come and see what's going on because I heard the gun shots." Conan suggested.

Rei and Ryu looked at each other.

"It could be a good idea but we have to leave immediately." Ryu remarked, "If the police finds us, they'll ask questions and they could put me and Rei in trouble."

"Yes, we should leave." Ai asserted.

"Come on, then." Rei said, picking her gun from the floor and slipping it in her backpack.

"Hey, wait." Ryu made the others stop.

"What?" Conan asked.

"I left my backpack in the cave." he replied, "I have to go back and get it. I also have to cancel all the footprints and blood that are there. If the police sees that, they could track me down."

He tried to stand up but Rei blocked him.

"Where do you think you're going, Ryu?" she said, "I will go there with Shinichi. We'll be back in a few minutes."

Ryu tried to retort but Rei's look made him give up.

"All right." he said, "Scotch was alone so you shouldn't be in danger."

"Ai, do you mind staying with him?" Rei asked the girl, "Maybe you could do something for his wound."

"I'll see what I can do." she replied. She opened her backpack and drew out a roll of bandage from the first-aid box she had. "What about your arm? I think you should bandage it."

"I'll do it while we're walking." Rei said, taking the roll, "Thanks."

"See you later." Conan said and they headed to the cave.

As soon as they disappeared from view, Ryu winced, clutching his waist and slid down the tree log. Ai looked up at him

"Ryu-nichan, are you all right?" she asked with concern.

"If you want the truth, no. Not at all." he replied, "I didn't want to worry any of you before but I think that the wound's deeper than I thought. I'm still bleeding." He removed his hand from his waist: it was wet with blood. "Do you have other bandages? It could stop the bleeding."

He slowly managed to sit up. Ai took out the bandages and the bottle of water. She also took out her handkerchief.

"I'll have to clean your wound first or it will become infected." she remarked, wetting the handkerchief with some water, "How did you get covered with dirt in this way anyway?"

Ryu smirked.

"I'm pretty battered up, huh?" he said, "Scotch slammed me against the rock faces of the cave as though I was a paper doll. I fell on the ground after he shot me and that's how I got this dirty."

"You have to unbutton your shirt or I can't clean the wound." Ai stated in a very professional way.

Ryu slowly lifted the hem of his shirt, showing her his wound. Ai failed to stifle a gasp and looked up at him.

"Ryu, why didn't...?" she stammered in shock, "How did you...?"

"I know. But I.. we can't do anything for it at the moment." he said, simply, "Ai, just do what you can. We'll see what we can do later. Don't worry.. sis."

Ai looked at him and nodded. She began to do what she could to treat him.

-:-

"Are you sure you're ok, Rei?" Conan asked.

"Don't worry, Shinichi." she replied, knotting the bandages with one hand. "Is this cave far?"

"No, it's back there."

They were walking quickly. Even though Ryu had said that Scotch was the only agent around, they felt uneasy. They wanted to leave that place immediately.

"Here, Rei." Conan said, turning to his left. "The entrance is here."

"You take Ryu's backpack." she said, "I'll cancel the footprints and blood marks."

They had hardly entered the cave when Rei stopped dead on her tracks. Conan stopped too.

Their eyes were wide with shock and horror.

"Oh my God.." Rei whispered, her eyes fixed on the scene in front of her.

"How can he still walk?" Conan asked, "Or even move?"

On the ground close to Ryu's backpack was an enormous pool of a substance they immediately recognized even though there was very little light.

_Blood_.

An enormous pool of blood.

Ryu's blood.

-:-

Ai glanced at Ryu with concern.

He was sitting down on the ground next to her, lying with his back on the tree, eyes closed and pale face. The wound was serious. He needed immediate medical treatment. She had only cleaned the wound and bandaged it but she knew that it was not enough. The bullet had gone in deep and the bleeding would have started again.

'Rei, Kudo, hurry up.' she thought, 'Ryu's getting weaker.'

But as soon as she thought of the other APTX-victim, her face clouded. Ryu wouldn't be in this if he hadn't told him all that rubbish.

"Ai?" Ryu asked, opening his eyes. She turned to him. "What's wrong?"

"I..." she stammered.

"Come on, don't worry. You can ask me anything."

She looked at him.

"Why did you smile when Kudo threatened to report you if you killed Scotch?" she asked, voicing the question that had been going through her mind the whole time.

"I understood his words and what he really meant. That's why I smiled and thanked him." he replied. A small smile flickered on Ryu's face, seeing the blank expression on Ai's face. "Do you remember how much he tried to not leave me alone? He didn't want me to face Scotch. Not alone. At the beginning, I thought that he didn't trust enough but then I understood. Conan was only very worried for me and most of all, he was worried that my feelings would have overcome me when I would be meeting Scotch."

"And did it happen?" Ai asked.

"Yes, it happened. I was nearly going to kill him. I'm not sure of how it happened but I managed to pin him down to the ground and... then I realised that I had the gun in my hand. My mind had only one thought: kill Scotch. All his taunts about my father, all his provocations were hammering in my head while images of my family flashed before my eyes. I didn't care of anything. I loaded the gun and was going to shoot when I understood that it would have been a mistake.

"Why? He murdered your family? Why save him?"

"There wouldn't have been any difference between him and me if I killed him. He's a cold-blooded criminal that has killed who knows how many people. He deserves death but I don't want to be the one that will kill him. As I loaded the gun, I remembered all the people that trusted me and cared for me: the Xanders, Matt, Agase, Rei, Conan and you. All the people that I cared for came back to my mind and, suddenly, I realised that if I pulled the trigger, I wouldn't have been able to face anyone of you without feeling ashamed. Or worse. I think that Conan has realised this immediately. He must have noticed something in my face that warned him. You know, his words came back to my mind while I was pointing the gun at Scotch and they brought me back to senses. I hit Scotch on the head, instead of shooting him.

I must thank Conan. It's hard to say the truth sometimes because it could hurt you more than a lie. He must have struggled with himself before telling me all that things that he said. He really is a good friend. It's rare to find someone so loyal and honest. I should be thankful. What do you think?"

Ai nodded. She didn't know what to say.

'I didn't understand anything.' she thought, 'I didn't understand him at all. He wanted to help Ryu even more than me. And I blamed him in that way...'

Just then she heard a noise. It was dusking and she didn't see her surroundings well. Ai got up and turned her flashlight-watch on, pointing it towards the sound's direction.

A ray of light hit her in return.

Conan and Rei had come back. Ai noticed that they both looked extremely worried.

Ryu slowly managed to get up.

"Did you take everything?" he asked but Rei didn't answer. She walked till she was in front of him.

"Why didn't you tell us that you had lost so much blood?" she demanded, "I don't know how you're able to move!"

"I…" Ryu stammered not knowing what to say.

Conan turned to Ai.

"How's his wound?" he asked, "Is it serious?"

"Yes, the bullet's gone in deep." she replied, "I bandaged it but it won't do much. He'll start bleeding again. For sure."

"He has already lost enough blood." Conan remarked, " There was a big pool in the cave. We had to use both our bottles to water it down and then we covered it up with earth. No one should notice it."

Ryu was leaning on the tree again, hand clutched to his waist and breathing heavily.

"We have to tie up Scotch." he said, after a while, "The stunning effect will wear off in another hour. He will escape. We can't waste this chance to catch him."

Rei opened her backpack and pulled out some rope.

"Shinichi, help me, will you?" she asked, "We have to tie him tight and I can't do it well with one arm."

Conan nodded and approached her. They quickly tied Scotch to a tree, double checking that the knots were tight so that he couldn't escape.

"All done." Rei said, after they had finished. Conan in the meanwhile was checking if they had forgotten anything. He was inspecting the ground with his flashlight watch.

"Nothing." he said, a few minutes later. "We can go."

They all picked their backpack, ready to leave. As Ryu bent down to pick his, he felt dizzy. The blood-loss had weakened him more than he thought. He staggered and nearly lost his balance but Rei caught him before he could fall.

"We have to find a doctor soon." she stated, holding him up with her good arm. She turned to Conan and Ai, "We have to reach the car before it gets too dark. You two have to guide us with the flashlights. We're not in conditions to lead."

They nodded and Ai took out her compass.

"Let's go." Conan said, directing the flashlight in front of him. The others followed him.

-:-

They reached the car twenty minutes later.

Ryu was feeling worse moment after moment. The pain at his waist was searing and he had started to bleed again. Conan, Ai and Rei were worried: he was looking bad.

The first thing they did was cover the back seats with a plastic raincoat that they had found in the car's trunk. Ryu had to sit behind and it wouldn't have been a good to stain the seats with blood. They had agreed to leave the car somewhere and then call the car rent to come and get it back.

They would have called Agase to take them back home.

Ai sat next to Ryu in case he needed any treatment. Rei was at the driver's seat and Conan was next to her: he had to help her drive since she could use only her left arm.

They had also agreed that they couldn't go to a hospital. It would have put both Ryu and Rei in trouble. Hospitals had policemen inside and police asked questions.

How could they explain their gunshot wounds without giving their true identity?

It was better to find a small surgery in the little town next to the woods.

And pray that the doctor wouldn't ask questions.

* * *

The phone began to ring madly. The man, sitting at the desk, answered promptly.

"Hello, Inspector Megure." he said, in his usual formal tone, "Yes.. Where? When? Are you sure? It could be someone hunting... Oh, I see. Yes, we'll handle it but who... ? Hello? _Hello?_" He put the phone down, "Didn't even give me his name."

Inspector Megure got up and put his hat on.

"Takagi!" he called. A young man appeared at the door.

"Yes, Keibu?"

"I have just received a phone call." he said, " A man said that he heard a few gunshots in the woods that are out the city. Get some men and prepare the cars: we have to go there to check it out."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

"This should be the place."

Rei stopped the car near a small building a bit far from the other houses and close to the woods.

"This should be Dr... Mizuno's surgery." Conan said, "That's what that old man told me when I asked him."

"It's better if we hurry up." Ai remarked, "Ryu..."

Rei turned around and looked at him. He was pale, sweat drops beading his face and breathing heavily. He seemed to be stifling a cry of pain.

"Hang on, Ryu." Rei said, "We have to leave the car somewhere before. Anyway, Ai, give me your gun and Ryu's too."

The little girl handed her the weapons. Rei reached her backpack and stuffed them deep inside, along with her gun.

"It would be a bit hard to explain if someone sees them." she said. She winced as her right arm hit the door lightly.

"Now the car.." she said, looking around.

"Why don't you park it there, Rei?" Conan said, pointing to his left.

There was a small park next to them with swings, jungle gym and other things. The public toilets were on a corner and behind them there was an empty space, big enough for a car.

"Why not?" Rei said, "That space's not inside the park."

She turned the car to her left and managed to park it with Conan's help. Conan and Ai scrambled out, taking all the backpacks. Rei helped Ryu out and they all headed to the surgery.

It was a good thing that it was nearly half past eight. There wasn't anybody around and it was dark, so nobody could have noticed Ryu and Rei's state.

They had hardly reached the surgery that Ryu's legs gave away. Rei staggered but managed to hold him up without loosing her balance and falling down.

"Ryu, come on, we're nearly there." she said turning to him.

He looked really bad. The blood stain on his shirt was bigger than it had been before and he was deadly pale.

Ryu had used all his willpower not to faint but now it was too much. He felt weak, terribly weak and the stabbing pain at his waist was increasing every moment.

Rei glanced at him with concern, then she turned to Conan and Ai.

"Shinichi, Ai, go and call the doctor." she said, "Ryu has to be treated immediately. I don't know if he can wait anymore."

The kids just dashed to the surgery's front door and started knocking furiously. After a few minutes, they heard a voice.

"Who's there?"

"Our friend's seriously injured!" Conan shouted, ignoring the question, "You have to help him!"

They heard footsteps and other voices behind the closed door. Conan shouted again to hurry up while Ai continued to knock on the door.

Rei, in the meanwhile, was approaching the surgery, holding Ryu. She was walking slowly. Ryu seemed unable to move and the pain at her right arm was not helping her.

"..Rei.."

She turned to her side. Ryu was staring at her. She forced a smile despite all her concern.

For his sake.

"We're nearly there." she said, "The doctor will treat you and you'll be well."

"I'm sorry." he said softly.

"What for?" she asked surprised.

He looked at her. He was smiling. The same smile she had imagined when she thought that she had lost him. His blonde hair was shading his eyes. She slowly moved her injured arm, ignoring the stabs of pain and brushed his bangs out of his blue eyes.

"Why are you apologizing, Ryu?" she whispered.

"I always make you worry." he replied softly. He looked at her peculiarly. It looked as though he trying to take in every detail of her face.

Rei was going to answer when Ryu fainted, going limp in her arm. They were both going to fall when someone held them up.

"Are you all right, young lady?" a male voice asked.

Rei looked up and saw a man, about forty years old, holding Ryu while she was helped by a woman, in her early twenties.

"Yes." she murmured.

"Good." he replied, "Your friend is unconscious. We have to move quickly. Come on, Atsuko."

He walked towards the surgery, holding Ryu up. He was followed suite by the woman and Rei. Conan and Ai were waiting by the door with another woman.

"What must I do, doctor?" she asked.

"Prepare the operating theatre." he ordered, "This young man's _very_ badly wounded."

* * *

1 Detective Conan Vol. 5: The murder of Tatsuya Kimura, singer of the band "LEX"


	14. First meeting

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Detective Conan .

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

_**Chapter 13**_

_First meeting.  
_

Darkness was the only thing he saw as he opened his eyes.

He looked around in the dim light. A pale moon lit the place. There were only trees there, not a living soul. He got up... tried to get up. He realised only then that he was tied to a tree, enabled to stand up and that his left arm was bleeding.

Scotch swore loudly.

A loud screech from his right and a rustle showed that the sudden outburst had not been appreciated by one of the woods' inhabitants.

How the hell was he going to leave?

"That damn Martini... probably his idea to tie me up." he muttered, trying to free his hands from the rope, "How the hell did he survive? I shot him! He had to die!' He tried to free his hands again. 'He knocked me down...No, he didn't... That two blasted kids did! One shot me with a gun, the other paralysed my arm with a damn...-what was it? A needle? Damn kids! Martini and Ikeda five years ago and now these two. But as soon as I'll free myself, I'll get them. They live in Beika. I'll get them all."

He was so busy struggling with the ropes and savouring the moment when he would get his revenge that he didn't notice two figures approaching him.

_"Look who we have here."_

Scotch froze. He had recognized the voice but couldn't understand what the owner was doing there.

Two figures stepped in front of him: two men. Two men dressed in black.

The man at his right wore a black trench coat and a black hat. He had long pale blonde hair that shone eerily under the silver moon but somehow this seemed to hint darkness rather than light. A cigarette dangled on his mouth and his hand was tightly gripping something in his pocket.

It was probably a gun. Scotch felt a bead of sweat roll down his face.

The other man was shorter but just as menacing with his sturdy build. He had his hand in his pocket too and his eyes weren't visible because of the dark sunglasses he wore. [1]

"Gin?" Scotch breathed, "What are you doing here?"

Gin sneered at Scotch.

"What are _you_ doing here, Scotch?" he asked with his icy voice."The Organisation has found out a few strange facts about you. It seems that you've been neglecting to do your work lately and that you've been using our computers to do researches on your own. Researches on Martini. Why do you want to find that spy so badly, Scotch?"

It was true. Scotch had used the Organisation's computers to do his researches but he was sure that no one would have noticed it. He was one of the head scientists, after all and very few had access to the systems he used. Then how..?

Scotch felt cold sweat on his face when he realised the truth. The Organisation suspected his loyalty. They thought that he could be a double-agent and that he was in collusion with Martini. If he had killed him today, everything could have been cleared, his reputation restored.. but now..

"I wanted to find that damn spy and finish him myself." he managed to say. "I wanted to get back all the material he had stolen."

Gin cast him a careless look.

"You _wanted_? Well, it seems that Martini has fixed you up instead."

"He wasn't alone! Ikeda is with him. She's ali.." Scotch retorted but stopped when he saw Gin draw out his gun and point it to him. All colour left his face. "Wh.. what are you doing?"

"I don't want to hear your excuses." he hissed, "You have been making too many mistakes, Scotch. Why didn't you use the silencer on your gun? The police has been informed and they're coming here. Martini probably called them. We have to take care of you before their arrival."

"Wait, you can't.." he said, struggling to get free from the ropes with more energy, "You need me for the Organisation's systems. You won't be able to protect them from intruders."

"We can find someone to take your place." Gin replied with a sneer, "There are plenty of other scientists around."

Scotch's brain was reeling as he fought to find other reasons to let him live.

"If you kill me, you'll never know where Martini is." he yelled at last.

"Do you really think that Kazama will stay in the same place where you saw him? I thought that you were more intelligent, Scotch." Gin pointed the gun to the tied man's head and loaded it. "You have helped the Organisation but you have made too many mistakes. Your time has come, Scotch. You'll see how the rest goes on from another place."

Scotch tried to free himself for the last time but it was useless. He could only open his mouth to shout but Gin pulled the trigger and no sound came from him.

A muffled sound was heard and then nothing else. The two black intruders swiftly left and the woods went silent with the only difference that there was a dead body tied to a tree.

* * *

It was nearly eleven o'clock but the lights in the small surgery were still on.

Conan was walking back and forth, Ai was standing nearby, leaning on the wall and Rei was sitting on the wall bench. They were in the waiting room and they were waiting.

Waiting for news from Ryu.

The operation was not over yet. Dr. Mizuno and his nurses were in the operation theatre and nobody had told them anything. They were all fearing the worst.

"Kudo, you'll dig a hole in the ground if you keep on walking like that." Ai remarked, "Why don't you just sit down or, at least, keep still?"

"I can't." he replied, coming to an halt "I feel so.. restless." He turned to her. "Why aren't they telling us anything? It's more than two hours that they're in there."

"It's a gunshot wound at the waist, Shinichi." Rei stated absently, staring at the closed door rather than at him, "It's not that easy to take the bullet out."

"Yes, and it's also gone in deep." Ai added.

Conan sighed and walked to the bench where Rei was. He leaned on the wall by her right. Now Rei was between Ai and Conan.

'They're right.' he thought, 'As usual..'

He turned around.

"Rei, how's your arm doing?" he asked with concern, noticing the dark stain on her sleeve and the ripped denim fabric stained with blood and dirt.

"I think I can wait another bit." she replied, "Don't worry."

She had refused to be treated until Ryu was out of danger. His wounds were far more serious than hers. The doctor had retorted at the beginning but he gave up when he saw Rei's firmness.

Anyway, he was only one and couldn't treat two patients at once.

They also had to make up a story to explain their wounds. They had said that they had gone camping and while they were walking in the woods, someone fired a few shots at them suddenly. A hunter probably. The doctor seemed to accept the story but Conan had the feeling that he didn't. He didn't even look as though he had listened at them. He was too busy, thinking of how to treat Ryu.

Rei fingered Ryu's chain.

'The bad feeling I had in the car….' she thought, tracing the cool metal surface with her finger, 'Ryu... Oh God, I hope everything will be all right.'

The room went silent again. The only sound came from the clock hung on the wall.

It was enervating.

Then, the door opened and Dr. Mizuno came out, followed by the nurses who sped to another room. Conan, Ai and Rei approached him immediately.

"Dr. Mizuno? Is Ryu ok?" Rei asked, "He's alright, isn't he?" The man remained silent and this worried her.

"Ryu's alright, isn't he?" she asked again, "Tell us? Is he all right?"

Dr. Mizuno cleared his throat slightly.

"The operation has gone well." he said, "I have taken the bullet out. Luckily it hasn't hit any of the vital organs, although it has came pretty close..."

A wave of relief that had swept through the three teens bodies when they heard that the operation had gone well.

"But.."

And instantly evaporated.

"But..?" Conan asked tentatively.

"He has lost a lot of blood. Too much." the doctor said, "He needs an immediate blood transfusion. Unfortunately, we don't have his blood group in our supplies."

"Couldn't you ask another hospital or a blood bank to provide you some?" Ai asked. "It's an emergency. They will do that."

The doctor looked at the little girl with surprise. How could a seven year old know this?

"Atsuko and Nami are calling the closest hospitals.. but we don't have a lot of time."

A chill ran down the three teens' spines.

"What do you mean?" Rei asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

Dr. Mizuno looked at the worried faces in front of him. Giving bad news was the worse part of being a doctor. He took a deep breath.

"Your friend will not resist for long. He's very weak." he said, "We have to do the transfusion in maximum two hours, otherwise..."

His voice trailed of, leaving only a stunned silence as the implications of his unsaid words sank in.

"What's his blood group?" Conan asked suddenly.

"What? B negative." the doctor replied.

Ai understood right away what the boy had in his mind.

"You can't do it, Kudo." she whispered, approaching him from behind.

He turned around at her.

"What?" he muttered.

She pulled him away from the doctor's earshot.

"You can't give Ryu your blood." she said.

"Why not?" he asked, "We've got the same blood group. You heard the doctor. Ryu will die if he doesn't get blood in two hours!" He looked at her fiercely. Why didn't she understand?

"I know that! But we can't give him our blood because of the poison. We could risk to give Ryu the Apotoxin along with our blood and who knows how it could effect him."

Conan just stared at her.

"I didn't think of it." he said simply, "What can we do then?"

He didn't wait for her answer and turned around, listening to Rei who was talking with Dr. Mizuno.

Unseen by him, Ai unbuttoned her jacket and fingered the contours of the small box that was in the inner pocket.

Rei, in the meanwhile, was having a small argument with Dr. Mizuno.

"Why not, doctor?" she demanded.

"Listen, I understand how you feel but no, you can't give him your blood. You are wounded and you have suffered a blood loss, too. If you give it to your friend, you'll be in his same condition. I'm sorry but I can't endanger your life." he said firmly. His tone softened, seeing the look on her face, "I can understand how you feel. We'll have to wait and hope that the other hospitals can send us the blood to save him"

Rei nodded slowly, swallowing a lump in her throat.

"All right." she murmured.

"I'll go and see what the nurse's have found out, then I'll see your wound." Dr. Mizuno said and left the room quickly.

"Oh, God..." Rei muttered under her breath, running a hand on her face. "Ryu..."

Composing herself and trying to keep her nerves steady, Rei turned around as another thought occurred to her.

"Shinichi, why did you...?" She stopped abruptly when she saw that she was alone in the room. "Shinichi, Ai, where are you?"

No one replied.

'Where did they go?' she thought nervously, looking around. 'They were here five minutes ago! They can't have disappeared!'

She rushed out of the room, ignoring a stab of pain from her arm and found one of the nurses.

"Excuse me, did you see the two children that were with me?" she asked. "The little girl and boy?"

"The two little children?" Atsuko repeated, "Yes, they rushed out a few seconds ago. They seemed to be in a hurry."

"They left?"

"Yes, but the boy said something... about preparing everything for the transfusion while the girl said that you didn't have to worry for them."

Rei looked at her blankly.

'The transfusion? But they... they can't give Ryu their blood...' she thought, 'Ai told me that the APTX-4869 had effected their whole body, including their blood. I don't think they'd risk to give the APTX to him...'

She was going to go back to the waiting room when she noticed the backpacks piled up near the entrance. They had left them there when they entered and nobody bothered to move them.

Rei realised that Conan and Ai's backpacks were there along with Ryu's jacket but theirs weren't.

Ryu's and her backpack were not there.

* * *

"Haibara, are you sure it will work?"

Conan and Ai were in the public toilets.

"The temporary antidote has worked before." she remarked, quirking an eyebrow, "_You_ used it..."

"I didn't mean that." he retorted, "Are you sure that the APTX's effects will disappear when we're in our true forms?"

"Yes, I'm sure of that." she said with a nod, "The antidote overcomes the poison's effect; this temporary one will do the same even if it works only for twenty four hours."

"All right..." Conan looked at her. "By the way, Haibara, how come you had two temporary antidote pills with you?"

"As Ryu says, just in case. I have made only three of these. I carry these two along with me while I leave one at Agase's house." She opened the little plastic box and withdrew the items within it. "Here, take this."

She handed him a small red and white pill. Conan took it and looked at his watch.

"It's nearly eleven thirty." he said, "The antidote's effect will wear out tomorrow at the same time. Well, let's go then."

They glanced at each other before entering two different cubicles. Conan put down Ryu's backpack and after a moment of hesitation, swallowed the pill.

Conan's heart was thumping. It was only for one day but he would be himself again.

Shinichi Kudo again.

With this thought, he awaited in silence for the moment to come..

His heart began to pound hard. A painful, yet familiar burning feeling coursed through his body: he felt as though his body was melting. He stifled a scream of pain; it was late at night and someone could hear him. He tried not to faint but the pain was too much for his small body: Conan collapsed to the floor.

There was a thump in the cubicle next to his.

Ai had passed out, too.

* * *

Dr. Mizuno transferred Ryu to a room as everyone waited the phone call that would tell them that the blood was coming.

Rei was waiting outside, looking into the room through a glass panel.

Ryu was lying on a bed with different machines around him. The girl felt her heart constrict painfully at his sight: she had never seen him look so pale and helpless. She had heard the nurses say that his heartbeat and his breathing were weak.

Rei fought back the tears that were threatening to leak from her eyes as she looked at Ryu.

He looked so vulnerable...

Rei tightened the fist of her uninjured arm. She had never felt so useless. She couldn't do anything for him: nothing at all. She just had to wait as the doctor had said. Rei felt a lump in her throat as she remembered his last words.

'He apologized for making me worry.' she thought, 'He was loosing consciousness, he didn't know if he would wake up again and he only thought of... apologizing... to me...'

She quickly turned around, wincing as another stab of pain came from her arm. Dr. Mizuno was busy calling the nearby hospitals asking them to send him some B negative blood in less than two hours but he didn't seem to have much luck. His nurses were helping him too, desperately asking for a blood supply.

Rei had to wait both to get news about Ryu and to get her arm treated.

And, as though she didn't have enough problems in her mind, she was worried for Conan and Ai's sudden disappearance. She sighed and went to sit down, after giving another glance at Ryu's sleeping figure.

'Fight, Ryu..' she thought, 'Don't give up.. I'll wait... I'm waiting for you...'

* * *

The dark blue eyes slowly opened.

'What...? Where am I?'

The boy slowly sat up, his hand pressing against his forehead, trying shake the dizziness off. Red stripes appeared on his face when he realised that he was naked; the shreds of his small clothes were on the ground along with a pair of glasses.

"It worked." Shinichi said softly, a smile creeping on his face as he took the glasses in his hand. He opened Ryu's backpack and took out some clothes. He quickly glanced at his watch and cursed under his breath: it was nearly midnight. It had taken him thirty minutes to come back to senses.

'I've got to hurry up. I hope Haibara's awake too.' he thought, putting on a pair of jeans, a short-sleeved black shirt and a pair of trainers. 'Good thing Ryu had spare shoes.'

He closed the bag. Ryu's clothes were his size: only the shirt was slightly bigger at the shoulders but he didn't care. He picked the backpack and opened the cubicle's door, still clutching his head to shake the last traces of dizziness off.

"You've come out at last, Kudo."

Shinichi turned to the voice and froze on the spot seeing the girl who was leaning against the wall.

Slim figure, shoulder length reddish-blonde hair and light blue eyes. She was wearing a pair of jeans, a white blouse and trainers. Next to her was Rei's bag.

Shinichi had never seen Ai in her true form. Even that time with Pisco, he had only caught a glimpse of her, nothing more.

'So, this is... Shiho Miyano.' he thought, staring at her, 'She's.. so.. beautiful.'

He blushed, realising what he had just thought but couldn't stop staring at her: his eyes just travelled up and down her body, taking in every single detail of the sight in front of him.

"Something wrong?" Shiho asked, quirking a brow.

"What?" he said.

"You're staring."

Shinichi hadn't realised that he had been looking at Shiho for something that went beyond a couple of seconds. Even though she had her usual emotionless expression, he could swear that there was a hint of embarrassment in her tone.

"Er- it's... nothing..." he stuttered, "When did you come around?"

"Ten minutes ago." she replied, "Let's go. Ryu needs blood in an hour's time."

"Yes, let's go."

They went out and reached the surgery in a few minutes. Shinichi knocked at the door and nurse Nami opened immediately.

"Yes, who is it?" she asked, looking at the teens, "I am sorry but we have got an emergency situation and the moment and we can't treat other patients."

"We're here to help our friend." Shinichi said quickly, "We are here to donate our blood."

The nurse looked surprised but she let them in.

"How did you..?" she asked.

"The two children informed us." Shiho cut through her sentence, "We came here straightaway while they went home." she added, foreseeing any other question.

"All right." Nami replied, "I'll go and inform Dr. Mizuno. Why don't you go to the waiting room? The other girl is there."

She went to get the doctor while Shinichi and Shiho went to see Rei; she was still sitting on the chair but her eyes were closed and she was clutching her arm: the pain was slowly overcoming her. Shinichi approached her, concern was clear on his face.

"Rei?" Shinichi approached her with a concerned look, "Why didn't the doctor still treat your wound?"

Rei's eyes snapped open as she recognized the voice that she had last heard nearly three years ago.

"Shinichi?" she asked in surprise, standing up. She looked at Shiho and her eyes widened. "A..Ai?"

"In the flesh." Shinichi replied, smiling. "We're here to help Ryu."

"We will give him our blood." Shiho added.

Rei felt as though the weight that she had in her stomach had suddenly disappeared. A smile flickered on her face and she tried to say something but the words didn't come out. Shinichi, understanding how she felt, hugged her softly.

"He'll be all right." he whispered, "Don't worry, Nee-chan."

Rei nodded, burying her face in his shoulder. The tears that she had been forcing inside herself for all this time, now came out freely. Shiho watched the scene and smiled slightly, comprehending that the girl needed all the support and comfort that he could give her.

Dr. Mizuno showed up a few seconds later and Shinichi and Rei broke their embrace.

"Who is going to donate blood?" he asked. Shinichi and Shiho stepped forward to him. "You two? Both B negative?" They nodded. "All right, we have to hurry up. Who's the first one?"

"I'll come." Shiho said and she left the room with the doctor.

Shinichi and Rei sat down. Waiting didn't seem unbearable anymore. Hope had replaced the feeling of uselessness that they had been feeling for the entire night.

"Shinichi?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"Whatever for?" he asked, turning to the girl.

"For what you're doing, for turning back to yourself to give your blood to Ryu." she replied, "You're in danger as much as us now that you're back to your selves. I just want to thank you and Ai."

"Ryu's a friend. It's obvious that I will help him. I'd do the same for you." Shinichi remarked. "Or for Haibara, of course."

Rei looked at him with slight amusement, arching a brow, and he noticed it. He blushed.

"I'd do it for any of my friends." he swiftly added, "Don't misunderstand: I didn't mean to say that I care for Haibara more than for others."

"Don't worry." she replied, smiling, "I didn't think of anything of that sort."

His embarrassment just proved her suspects. She had noticed his attitude towards Ai; in spite of the sarcastic and witty way he talked and his cool behaviour, she knew that Shinichi cared for Ai.

Even more than a friend. Ai had told her what she felt for him, so, if only Shinichi cleared his mind and followed his feelings, maybe... something could go on between them.

But it was not her business after all. She could only imagine and maybe throw a couple of hints here and there but they were the ones that had to move.

"Rei, shouldn't we call Agase?"

The girl snapped out of her thoughts as he called her.

"Come again?"

"Shouldn't we call Agase?" Shinichi repeated, "He must be worried: we disappeared this afternoon."

"Now?" she said, checking the time on the clock on the wall. "It's past midnight. He will be fast asleep by now."

"I don't think so. He'll be too concerned to sleep."

Rei thought this over.

"You're right.. but... why don't we wait until we have some news about Ryu's conditions?" she suggested, "I don't want to make him worry, telling him of our injuries. What do you think?"

"Maybe, you're right." Shinichi said with a nod, "Let's wait."

After a moment of silence, Rei turned to look at Shinichi. It was strange to see him as an adult after having spent the past months with him as Conan..

"How do you feel to be yourself again?" she asked.

"It's great!" he exclaimed with barely hidden enthusiasm. "Too bad it lasts only one day. I hope that Haibara will be able prepare the definite antidote soon."

"It will be. She's been working really hard on it in the past weeks."

"When?" he asked with surprise, " I was there every afternoon and she was always helping with the files."

"She did both the things. She helped me and continued her experiments. Ai, Ryu and I usually work till it's late at night." Rei failed to hide a smile. "At least until Agase finds out that we're still in the lab and chases us out, telling us to go to sleep."

Shinichi looked at her and smiled too. Rei's spirits had definitely risen. She wasn't worried and anxious as she had been just a few minutes ago.

After a couple of moments of silence, Rei remembered a fact that she had put aside on the moment it had occurred.

"Shinichi, whatever was going on between you and Ai in the woods? Were you arguing?"

"Er- she.." the boy muttered slowly, "She got a bit angry with me, actually."

"_Ai?_ Get angry?" Rei asked in disbelief, staring to him, "What did you do?"

She expected him to scoff and say that it wasn't his fault and definitely didn't expected him to lower his stare and avoid her gaze.

"I think I deserved it." he said quietly, "I said a.. _man__y_ things without thinking of the consequences and I also didn't realise that my behaviour was ambiguous and easy to be misunderstood."

Saying that Rei was puzzled after hearing this was an understatement but she didn't ask for further explanations because Shinichi had glanced at her and she had seen a strange, uncharacteristic glint in his clear blue eyes. Rei saw sorrow mingled with bitterness. Deep sorrow.

Just then, Shiho came back in the room.

"Kudo, you can go." she said.

Shinichi nodded and got up. As he passed near Shiho, he shot her a quick glance, startling her a bit for the intensity of the stare and left the room.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked Rei as she sat down next to her, taking the boy's seat.

"I thought that you would have told me this, Ai...-sorry, I mean, Shiho." Rei said, quickly correcting her slip.

_"Me?"_ she asked in puzzlement.

"I asked him why you were arguing in the woods and he said that he made you angry." she replied and glanced at her with a small smile, "It's kind of hard to imagine you getting mad..."

Shiho looked at her.

"Well... I did get angry..." she admitted, "But I think I misunderstood Kudo's words and his intentions, Rei."

Rei frowned slightly, noticing the look on her face.

'Whatever happened between them?' she wondered with concern.

"What happened?" she asked tentatively.

Shiho looked at her again, a sad glint crossed her eyes.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Rei hastily added but Shiho shook her head. She began to tell her everything. Kudo's strange attitude towards Ryu, their argument and Conan's threaten to report him if he killed Scotch. Her argument with him and all her accusations, her decision to separate and his refusal. She also told Rei how she misunderstood his concern towards her while she thought that he was solely worried about the making of the antidote.

Rei listened to her words in silence and spoke only when she finished.

"So... you thought that Shinichi's sense of justice outstripped his friendship with Ryu, that he was a fool to force Ryu face Scotch disarmed _and_ you also thought that he was so.. heartless to be worried of you only because you're the one that can make the antidote of the APTX-4869." she summarized swiftly, "Well, no wonder Shinichi's so dejected..."

Shiho felt a pang of guilt as she heard this.

"What did Kudo tell you?" she asked quietly.

"He said that he had said a few things without thinking of the consequences and that his behaviour had been ambiguous." Rei replied, "I didn't understand what he meant but now everything is clear." Shiho looked at her with a quizzical look and Rei went on. "Listen, Shiho, how would you feel if you found yourself alone, face to face with your sister's murderer?"

An image of Gin standing in front of her, like the time on the Beika Hotel's rooftop, materialised in Shiho's mind. A wave of emotions surged in her.

"I would feel angry..." she replied, "Very angry.. filled with loathing and also with... with a great desire to get revenge."

"Exactly. That's how I felt when I met Scotch a few hours ago. I felt a mix of feelings that I didn't think was possible to feel all at once... I couldn't control them. All the pain, the sorrow and a deep anger just had free reign over me." Rei explained, "In your case, it's understandable: you have lost your sister recently. It's plausible that you feel like this.

But what about me?

My parents' have died five years ago: I should have more control of my feelings by now. Instead, when I saw Scotch, my self-control just vanished; if he hadn't threatened to shoot you or Shinichi, if I had been alone, I don't know what I would have done. I think that Shinichi feared that this would have happened to Ryu, too."

"Ryu told me that he was on the verge of killing Scotch." Shiho remarked and Rei looked at her. "I asked him while you and Kudo went to the cave."

"What else did he say?"

"He said that he was pulling the trigger when Kudo's words came to his mind, along with the images of all the people he cared for and he realised that what he was going to do was a mistake."

"The biggest mistake of his life." Rei added. She looked her hands for a couple of moments, lost in her thoughts. "But I understand how he must have felt.." she said softly, "It's so hard to control your feelings. Especially anger."

"What would you have done in his place?" Shiho asked, looking at her.

"I don't know." Rei answered simply, looking up, "Just look at what happened before. I drew out my gun without even realising it when Scotch talked about the way he killed my parents."

"Would you have shot him?"

"I.. I don't know. I mean, in a first moment I would have wanted to kill him but later, maybe, I would have realised that it would have been... just... worthless."

"Worthless?"

"My parents won't come back to life if I kill Scotch and.. I don't think I would feel better afterwards. I'd probably feel worse. I would only be a cold-blooded murderer much like Scotch himself.. I don't think I'd even be able to _look_ at myself in the mirror without feeling ashamed or disgusted."

Shiho looked at her with an amount of respect that she rarely showed to people and couldn't ignore the little bit of envy she was feeling.

'She's stronger than I had imagined.' she thought, 'I don't know if I'd be so.. self-controlled if I met Gin with a gun in my hand.'

"They're not all my own ideas." Rei seemed to read her mind. "Shinichi convinced me three years ago. He told me that vengeance was totally useless because it hurts you instead of helping you. If I'm not mistaken, his said something like... er- oh, yes.. Anger is a consequence of pain. It's natural but you also have to be careful. If anger overcomes you, then cruelty seizes your heart. One moment of inattention is enough for that monster called vengeance to seize your soul." [2]

Rei looked at Shiho.

"I know that words by heart. I think that only then, when I realised the depth of his words, I truly overcame my parents' death. Shinichi has seen what anger and vengeance can bring to. He _is_ a detective and most of the cases he has to solve are committed for these reasons. I think he was so harsh with Ryu because he didn't want him to suffer more than he already has." A smile made it's way of Rei's face. "Well, it's so typical of Shinichi..."

Shiho smiled slightly but she felt guilt grab her insides. She had just shouted at him without even giving him the chance to explain...

Shinichi entered the room that very moment.

"Rei." he said, approaching her, "Dr. Mizuno wants to see your arm."

"Ok." she replied, getting up, "Why did it take you so much?"

"I gave some blood for you. Your arm's being bleeding for hours and I thought you'd need a transfusion as well."

"Thank you, Shinichi." Rei said with a smile.

"Come on..." he replied, blushing slightly, "It's nothing."

However, before leaving the room, Rei bent down to Shiho.

"Talk to him." she whispered in her ear, "I'm sure you'll sort out your argument."

Shiho smiled ever so lightly at her and gave her a nod. Rei gave her a swift wink and left.

There was an awkward silence in the room now.

Shinichi sat down next to Shiho, feeling uncomfortable and wondering if she would get mad if he talked to her. Shiho, on the other hand was wondering if _he_ would want to listen to her after all the things she had told him.

'If I don't talk, I'll never know what will happen.' she thought, at last 'It's now or never.'

She glanced at Shinichi and found him staring at her. Again. She blinked.

He quickly turned away, breaking eye contact as red stripes appeared on his face. He didn't know why but he couldn't help staring at her.

He felt as though he knew who she was but at the same time he didn't. After all, he had talked, bickered and spent time with Ai Haibara during all these months, not with Shiho Miyano.

'They're the same person.. just like me and Conan but ... I don't know what to do. How can I even try to talk to her if I keep on staring at her?' he thought furiously, 'Not to mention that I keep blushing... I'm behaving like a girl that sees a movie actor. Damn it!'

Shinichi was so busy with his self-criticism that he didn't hear Shiho calling him. He came out of his thoughts only when he felt a soft tap on his shoulder.

"Huh?" he said, turning around. Shiho was staring at him, a slight glint of concern in her eyes. Shinichi felt his face grow hot as he stared into her light blue eyes: he didn't know why but he was sure that no one could be impassive in front of those azure pools.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"Wha.. what?" he stammered, "Yes.. why?"

"I called you a few times but you didn't reply."

"Er- I was just... thinking. What is it, Haibar... -no, Miyano?"

Shinichi mentally slapped himself.

'Great job, Kudo!' he thought, 'Very subtle...'

Shiho looked at him, uncertain whether to speak or not. She took a deep breath.

"Kudo, I think I need to apologize."

He looked at her with astonishment.

"Whatever for?" he asked.

"I misunderstood your behaviour with Ryu and I just blamed you without giving you the chance to explain. Well... I'm sorry."

Shinichi was taken aback. She was sincere. He was sure of that and he also noticed a faint trace.. was it guilt that he was hearing in her tone?

"No, you don't have to apologize." he said, shaking his head, " I should. Ryu nearly got killed because of my words. You were right to blame me."

"Ryu said that you were right."

"What?"

"I talked with him while you were off to the cave. He said that your words helped him regain control. He was on the verge of killing Scotch when the promise he made to you came back to his mind and made him come back to sense. He said that he wanted to thank you because it must have been hard for you to behave so harshly with him. To behave in that way with a friend, I mean."

Hearing this, Shinichi felt the terrible weight he had in his stomach since the moment he had heard the gun shot in the woods, lessen considerably. He sighed with relief.

"You don't know what that means to me." he said, "I didn't know how I was going to face Ryu once he woke up." Shinichi looked at his hands while a smile was threatening to spread on his face. However, he sobered as a thought crossed his mind. "By the way... Miyano, how come you changed your mind on my attitude?"

"I talked with Ryu and he told me a few things; hen I talked with Rei and she explained me another couple of things." Shiho replied, " I realised that you were only worried for Ryu while I misunderstood everything: I think I confused my pain for Akemi's death with Ryu's feelings for his family's murder."

"Well, you don't have to blame yourself." Shinichi said sadly, "You have lost your sister only some months ago: it's natural that you feel in that way. You should blame me instead: it was my fault."

"It was not your fault. You did all that you could to help her. I don't blame you. Gin is the only one I blame for Akemi's death." She looked at him, "I'm sorry for what I said this evening, Kudo."

Shinichi felt a twinge in his heart as he looked at her.

"Don't worry." he replied, "It's nothing."

'She's really sorry.' he thought, 'I've never seen her like that..' His mind wandered to other thoughts. 'She's so cute, though... oh God, Kudo get a grip. I don't believe I've just thought that.. even though it's true.. oh, dear god...'

While Shinichi was busy with his musings, Shiho glanced at him again. There was a another thing that she wanted to know..

"Kudo?"

"Yes?"

"During our argument, you said that you know what happens when one kills the murderer of a dear person. You said that you won't let it happen again. What did you mean?"

Shinichi looked at her and she saw that strange glint in his eyes again, the same that he had in the woods: bitterness, anger and sorrow seemed to mix up in those dark blue eyes.

"It's a thing that has happened months ago: one of.. Conan's early cases." he said, " Kogoroh had been hired by a man to go and investigate on a small island. He sent him a message.

_The next night of full moon, the shadows will dissolve again on Tsukikage island._

_I ask you to investigate._

_Keiji Asoh._

But when we arrived there, we found out that this Keiji Asoh had died ten years ago as a suicidal. He was a famous pianist and one night, after a concert at the island's public relations' building, he closed himself in his house, murdered his wife and daughter and set the house on fire. But the thing that struck most was that he was playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata among the flames.

At the beginning, Kogoroh thought that it was a joke but I convinced him that it was better to be sure. We decided to see the mayor who had been one of Asoh's best friends and on the way, we met Dr. Narumi Asai. She was very gentle..." He stopped and shook his head as though shaking away his thoughts, "I don't want to bore you with all the details, so I'll cut a bit.

We have been there for hardly two days and three people got killed.. well four, if we count a mysterious death that happened the year before. Every murder was preceded by a stanza of the Moonlight Sonata and we always found a musical score next to the bodies. I found out that there was a code hidden in the score and that, plus a handwritten score by Keiji Asoh and a mistake made by the murderer made me solve the case.

The four victims were all childhood friends of Keiji Asoh. It seemed that they were all involved in a drug dealing business and used Asoh's concerts as a covering. Everything worked well till Asoh refused to help them again. That's why they decided to kill him. And I found out everything."

"Who ...?" Shiho started to ask but the look on Shinichi's face stopped her. She waited him to continue.

"Dr. Narumi was the murderer. Keiji Asoh had a son that was admitted in a hospital in Tokyo. His name was Seiji. Dr. Narumi was Seiji.

She was the one that had examined all the bodies; in that way, it had been easy for him to give fake death hours. The murders required great strength and since everybody thought she was a woman, no one had suspects. Unfortunately, Seiji had another plan, after having revenged his family's death..."

-:-

_The public relations' building was on fire: the fire had started from all the sides. The culprit had strewn petrol all around the building. Dr. Narumi.. Seiji Asoh, was sitting at the piano that his father had donated to the island with the flames dancing around him. He played a key randomly._

_"It's over, Dad." he said, "It's all over."_

"Nothing is still over."

_Seiji looked up and saw Conan, standing at the door frame, panting and holding a score in a hand._

_"You can't die in this way." he said, "It's also written in the score your father left: Seiji, at least you have to live."_

-:-

"I tried to coax him out but it was useless. He told me how he had found out the truth and how he decided to commit the murders." Shinichi whispered, "And then..."

-:-

_The fire was going to overcome them: there was smoke everywhere. Seiji began to cough._

_"Come on, Seiji." Conan urged, pulling his sleeve, "We have to leave soon. We are still in time."_

_Seiji looked at the little boy and stood up._

_"It's too late now." he remarked._

_"Wha..?_ Hey!_" Con__an exclaimed as__ Seiji lifted him from the ground._

_Seiji looked at him._

_"Like the hands of that four, my hands, too , are stained with blood that will never go away."_

-:-

"I will never forget the look on his face. There was only sorrow in his eyes.

He threw me out of the ground floor window. I tried to run back in but Ran blocked me. We all just waited outside, looking at the building burn.

Then, I heard a piano play: Seiji was playing among the flames, just like his father had done. He played the code used in the scores." He glanced at Shiho. "Do you know what he said? Thank you, little meitantei."

Shinichi stopped talking and Shiho could see pain and guilt flashing in his eyes. She didn't know what to say. He took a deep breath.

"I promised myself that I would have never let this happen again. If we make a hypothesis that makes the murderer attempt to commit suicide, how different are we from the murderer himself? I feared that something like this would happen today.

Ryu's my friend and I didn't want him to commit a crime because he could be attempted to kill himself in return. He's too loyal and honest to commit a crime but if feelings like vengeance and anger overcame him, he could have. And I don't know how he would have reacted later: I don't think he would have been able to forget it or live with the memory of having killed a man. That's why I didn't want Ryu to face Scotch alone."

Silence enveloped the room.

"Kudo?"

"Yes?" he said, turning around. Shiho was staring at him.

"Can I ask you a favour?"

"Sure."

"If I find myself facing Gin... one day... and if you're around there, can you do the same for me?"

"You mean..."

"Yes, could you stop me from committing a murder?"

Shinichi looked at her straight in the eyes and smiled.

"Of course, I will." he replied, "You don't even have to ask. I'll do it, Miyano."

"Thanks, Kudo." she said.

There was another moment of silence.

"Miyano?"

Shiho looked up.

"Er- you're not planning to leave.. suddenly, are you?" Shinichi asked.

She looked at him slightly taken aback, not by his question but by his tone. It was full of concern.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"When we were in the woods, you said that we had to split up and take different roads.." he said.

"I meant that we had to separate so whoever was following us would have been forced to track only one down and not both." she remarked but Shinichi was not a fool.

He stared at her with his 'detective' look waiting for an explanation. Shiho felt the uncomfortable feeling of being x-rayed.

She _had_ been thinking of leaving many times; not only today in the woods. She was only waiting to finish the last testing of the antidote. It had been a hard decision to take.

She liked staying at Agase's house. She liked her.. new life, her Organisation-free life. She liked staying with Rei, Ryu and Kudo. But sometimes, she felt out of place. She often found herself thinking things like: What am I doing here with them? They are light and I am just darkness. We are all working together now because we have a common target: bring down the Organisation. And after? If there will be an after, what will I do?

Shiho didn't have another place to go. She only had that little, hidden, perfect life that she had found after that death had refused to take her. She only had Ai Haibara's life.

"Well?" Shinichi asked, making her snap out of her thoughts. She looked at him and saw that he was worried. Shiho felt her heart melt.

'Why are you so worried for me?' she thought, 'You're all making it harder: Ryu, Rei and you. I was so sure of my decision till a few days ago but now... I don't even know what I want.'

"I'm the one that has created the APTX-4869." she said, after a bit, "It's my fault if you are in this condition. So, I'll make the antidote, give it to you and leave and you will go back to your life. You won't have to take care of me: you won't have to bother to keep that promise anymore.. "

She looked down so that he couldn't see the pain in her eyes.

Her words hurt Shinichi more than a knife stab. He didn't understand why she was saying that. He had promised to protect her, it was true, but why...?

Then it hit him and a look of dawning comprehension appeared on his face.

"Hey.. wait a minute.." he said slowly, "You thought that I was worried for you and that I helped you _only_ because you were making the antidote?"

He turned in his seat and looked at her, bewilderment clear on his face. Shiho just nodded without even looking up. Thousands of questions rushed in his mind but at the end only one came out.

"Why?"

"Why not?" she asked in return, still looking down, "I'm the criminal that has ruined your life. I'm a member of the Organisation. Why should someone be worried for me? Who would care if I left?"

Shiho quickly regretted to have said this: she didn't want to hear his answer.

He couldn't contradict her: she had only said the truth.

"Did you ever stop to think that there _are_ people that actually care for you?"

"_What?_" she asked, looking up. Shinichi was staring at her.

"Agase cares for you as a daughter; Ryu cares for you as a friend and a sister; Rei cares for you as a friend.. her best friend; that three mad kids of the Detective Boys care for you and... er- I care for you as a friend too." he said, highly embarrassed. Shiho felt her face grow warm and was glad that her hair hid it. Shinichi coughed slightly and continued. "What I wanted to say is that we all would be worried for you: you're not alone, Miyano. You have us, your friends. I know you can't forget your past but you're not the one to blame. You were forced to work for them and were forced to prepare the poison. The past is past: you can't change it. I know that you're not a criminal and Ryu and Rei know it, too. You're not a member of the Organisation anymore and you're helping us bring it down. You are just like us. Don't run away: don't look away from your destiny."

Shiho felt a wave of gratefulness flow through her body as he said this.

The same words he told her at the bus-jack...

However, she couldn't find the words to tell him what it meant to her to hear him talk like that. She turned to look at him and nodded.

"So, you will not go away?" he asked, uncertain whether his words had convinced her.

"No, I won't." she replied.

"Great." he said and smiled broadly without realising it.

Seeing his sincere relief, Shiho smiled back. It was a true smile, not the usual smirk or cool half smile. Shinichi's heart missed a beat as he looked at her. He had never seen her smile like that.

"Excuse me?"

They both turned around and saw Nurse Nami standing at the door frame with two mugs in her hands.

"I thought you'd want some coffee." she said, approaching them.

"Thanks." they said, taking the mugs.

"How are our friends doing?" Shinichi asked.

"The blood transfusion is nearly over: we should see the results in another couple of minutes. But I think that your friend will recover soon. Dr Mizuno is treating the young girl now: it seems that the bullet has gone deep in her arm. Well... I have to go. See you later."

She left Shiho and Shinichi, sipping their coffees and feeling definitely less worried.

After a few moments of silence, Shiho heard Shinichi muttering on his own.

"That's odd!" he said, "I didn't think of it before.." She turned to him with a quizzical look and he noticed it. "It's nothing. I've just noticed that it's the first time that we two have actually met. In our true forms, I mean."

Shiho thought it over and nodded.

"You're right. We have never turned to ourselves at the same time..." she remarked, "It's the first time we take the antidote together."

"Yes." he said thoughtfully.

Suddenly, he held out his hand towards her. Shiho looked at him blankly.

"What's _that_ meant to be?" she asked.

"Shinichi Kudo, pleased to meet you." he replied.

Shiho nearly laughed out as he said this but she managed to control herself.

"Kudo, if you haven't noticed, we already know each other." she remarked ironically, "For nearly six months, you know?"

"Well, that's not exactly true." he retorted, "We have met each other as Ai Haibara and Conan Edogawa. I know it seems awkward but every time I look at you, I know who you are and two seconds later, I'm not sure anymore." Shiho raised her eyebrow, clearly amused. "Come on, it's just to way to make our official introduction." He flashed his trademark smile.

Shiho felt a jolt in her stomach.

"All right." she managed to say.

"Shinichi Kudo, pleased to meet you."

"Shiho Miyano, pleased to meet you."

They shook hands, both ignoring the shivers that ran down their spines as their hands touched.

The room went silent again but both Shinichi and Shiho thought it was quite pleasurable.

Their talk had made them feel better: Shinichi knew that she didn't blame him for what he had said to Ryu and, most important of all, she didn't blame him for her sister's death. And he knew that she wouldn't go away: she wouldn't leave suddenly.

On the other hand, Shiho knew that he didn't consider her as the only way to get back to his life.

He cared for her. As a friend, but he cared for her and that was enough for Shiho.

They were both lost in their thoughts when Rei appeared at the door. It was nearly one in the morning. She was wearing her right arm in a sling and she was smiling. Shinichi and Shiho got up as she approached them.

"Rei, any news?" Shiho asked.

"Yes, good news. Ryu's out of danger." she said, "The transfusion saved him just in time: the doctor said that if we had waited another hour, Ryu couldn't have made it. He's alive thanks to you two."

"Oh, come on..." Shinichi said, waving his hand, " He's a friend: it was obvious that we would do it. Am I right, Miyano?"

"Yes, you're right." she replied, "By the way, Rei, how's your arm?"

"It seems that the bullet has gone through the fleshy part of the arm and just stopped there: the doctor had to work a bit to get it out but no bone is broken or fractured. I've been lucky. It went worse for Ryu: besides the wound at the waist, he's got a few cracked ribs, a deep cut on his head and light bruises here and there."

"He had quite a fight with Scotch, didn't he?" Shinichi remarked.

Rei smiled.

"We'll have quite a fight with him, too." she said, "Trying to make him stay in bed and recover."

Shinichi and Shiho smiled as she said this: Ryu was always so busy working or doing something that it was hard to imagine him staying in bed, waiting to recover.

"By the way, I called the car rental before." Rei said, "I made up an excuse and told them to come and get the car. They didn't seem to happy but they said that they'd be here tomorrow.. this morning around nine o'clock. We should call Agase, what do you think?"

"I'll do it." Shinichi said, pulling his earring phone out of his pocket. "I'm sure that he's still awake."

He quickly dialled the number and waited.

"Hello? Professor? Shinichi speaking... hey, calm down! Yes, we're all fine. Well, we're fine now, at least." He glanced at the girls and smiled. "No, don't worry: we'll explain everything later."

"Ask him if he can come and get us." Shiho whispered.

Shinichi nodded.

"Professor, could you come and pick us?" he asked, "No, not _now_, but today at... let's see... eleven o'clock? Do you know where we are? Yes, it's near there.. come into the small town next to the woods. All right, then, see you later. Bye!"

He hung up.

"Agase was pretty worried." he said, "Anyway, he'll be here at eleven o'clock."

"We just have to wait Ryu to wake up now" Rei remarked.

The other two nodded.

Waiting didn't seem so hard anymore.

* * *

'Where am I?'

This was his first thought as he opened his eyes, facing an unknown ceiling.

He was in a large room that was dimly illuminated by the rays of sunlight that managed to filter through the shutters. He was lying on a bed and this made him remember what had happened.

'Oh, yes, I passed out after we got out of the car. Because of the wound... the blood-loss. Well... I have to admit that I thought I wouldn't have made it this time. I'm wondering if Shinigami _really_ doesn't want me around him...'

He tried to sit up but it was not a good idea. He felt all his body aching: waist, chest, head...

He managed to sit up, leaning on the headboard, wincing slightly as he felt a sharp pain at his ribs.

'Scotch has really beaten me up well.' he thought sarcastically.

He looked around the room and saw that the clock on the wall signed ten to nine. Just then, he noticed that he wasn't alone: there were three people in the room.

Two girls and a boy: all sitting on chairs and fast asleep.

He looked at the boy, who was next to the door: he didn't know him but he did look familiar.. oddly familiar. He glanced at the girl at his right and his eyes widened.

'_Sherry?_' he thought, recognizing her, 'No, wait, how's that possible? Unless Ai...? The pill? Then that boy is... Conan? But... why...?'

Slightly puzzled, he looked at the girl asleep at his bedside. She was wearing her arm in a sling.

Ryu felt a familiar twinge at his heart at the sight of her. He smiled as he looked down, taking in the innocent expression on Rei's face. He lightly stroke her cheek.

This made Rei wake up. She slowly rubbed her eyes and looked up.

"Good morning." Ryu said, smiling at her.

"Ryu! How are you feeling?" she asked, getting closer to him. Ryu was pleased to see that she was really happy to see him.

"I'm fine..." he replied, "If I don't count that half of my body aches whenever I move. Besides that, how's your arm?"

"It's all right. I'll be fine in a week's time."

"Great."

They had so many things to tell each other but they didn't seem to find the words so they just smiled at each other. Just then, Shiho first and then Shinichi, woke up.

"How are you, Ryu?" Shiho asked, getting up.

"Not bad, Sher.. er- no, Shiho." Ryu said, correcting himself quickly.

"I wouldn't say that if I had a hole in the waist and a few cracked ribs." Shinichi remarked sarcastically, approaching him.

"Please don't remind me..." Ryu said, grimacing and the others laughed. "By the way, how come are you two in your true forms?"

"They took the temporary antidote to save you, Ryu." Rei answered, "You needed an immediate blood transfusion and Shinichi and Shiho gave you their blood."

Ryu turned to them.

"You saved my life, risking yours..." he stated, "If someone sees you..." He looked at the two and smiled. "Thanks, Shinichi. Thank you, Shiho."

The two shook their heads, slightly embarrassed.

"You saved me too, remember?" Shiho said, "So now we're even."

"And you saved both in the woods." Shinichi remarked, "You also gave us your bullet-proof jacket. You don't have to thank us."

Ryu just smiled at him and nodded.

In the meanwhile, Rei's eyes were fixed on Ryu. She was so glad that he was fine, alive and out of danger. The image of him lying unconscious on the bed surrounded by machines that had been flashing in her mind for hours had finally disappeared. She had feared that she could have lost him: the same fear that had seized her heart when he had disappeared months ago.

'I didn't say or do anything when we met again weeks ago.' she thought, 'I didn't tell him... anything. I can't do the same now. I _have_ to tell him! But how?'

Shiho glanced at Rei while Shinichi and Ryu were talking, and noticed her strange behaviour. It didn't take her much to understand what she had in her mind.

'Rei has often helped me.' she thought, 'Maybe, I could do something for her this time...'

She thought it over and came up with a good idea.

"Rei? Didn't you say that someone of the car rental would come here around nine o'clock?"

Rei snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her watch.

"You're right. It's nearly ten past nine now." she said, "I'll go and see if they have come. I'll have to explain why.."

"No, you can't go: you're injured. What do you think, Kudo?" she asked, turning to him, "We could go instead. The doctor will probably want to check Ryu and Rei."

Shinichi nodded.

"Ok. Let's go." he said, "We could also get something for breakfast: none of us has eaten anything since lunchtime."

"All right, then.." Rei conceded, "If you are going, I'll wait for the doctor with Ryu."

Shinichi and Shiho headed to the door. Shiho gave a significant glance to Rei as she passed by and she seemed to understand what the blonde meant because she smiled. As soon as they left, Rei took a deep breath and turned around to Ryu who was looking at her.

'It's now or never.' she thought.

"Ryu, I..."

"Rei, I.." he said, at the same time.

There was a pause.

"Go ahead." Ryu said, "Ladies first."

Rei forced a small smile, trying to ignore that her heartbeat had doubled in a few seconds and that her mouth had gone dry.

"Ryu.." she said slowly, "There is something that I have to tell you..."

"Yes?"

She sat down next to him. Ryu looked at her, smiling in that particular way that made her melt.

"I.." she stammered, "I.. well.."

"Something wrong?" he asked, getting closer to her. They were only inches apart. "It's not like you to be so nervous, Rei."

She looked at him and saw a glint of concern in his eyes. She smiled slightly.

"No, don't worry." she said, "It's just that... what I'm going to say might change a few things.. between us."

Ryu looked at her, slightly alarmed but quickly changed expression.

"Come on, don't worry." he said, smiling reassuringly, "We have always been sincere with each other. You can tell me anything. Go ahead"

Rei didn't know what to do: it seemed that she had lost the ability to speak. She just nodded.

'I'll never get through this if I go on like this.' she thought nervously.

She looked at Ryu.

She had fallen for him immediately.

She liked everything of him but didn't show it openly. She didn't want to and had preferred to be only a friend for him. Maybe she didn't want to suffer in case of a refusal, or maybe, she didn't want to loose him.

At least, as a friend, she could stay next to him. Now she realised that it had been wrong: for herself and for him. As he had said, they had always said everything to each other. If she continued to keep her feelings hidden, it would be like hiding something from Ryu.

She had already lost a chance weeks ago..

"I can't do the same mistake twice." she whispered to herself.

"What?" Ryu asked, thinking she was talking with him and leaning closer to her.

Rei looked up and, before she could realise what she was doing, before she had time to think, she leaned forward and kissed Ryu softly on the lips.

Ryu froze. A tingling warmth went through his body.

He was dreaming... It was impossible that Rei... no, it wasn't happening... it couldn't be happening.

Rei parted a few moments later and looked at him. He was clearly surprised.

'Oh God, what did I do?' she thought desperately as the enormity of her action hit her.

"Ryu, sorry.." she began, but she didn't sound too sure of herself. It hurt: her heart ached painfully.

Ryu still looked stunned, so she started again.

"Sor - "

Her apology was cut short as Ryu leaned forward to kiss her. Rei was the one to be surprised now. His lips were warm and tender against her own. Slowly, painstakingly slowly, she responded to his kiss and she felt Ryu smile. A smile that made its way on her face too.

They were interrupted, suddenly, by Shinichi.

"I forgot to take..." he stopped as he saw the intimate scene and quickly slammed the door shut. Ryu and Rei had already parted away. They looked at each other as red striped coloured their faces.

Shiho was standing out of the door, waiting for Shinichi and got startled when he slammed it shut.

"Kudo?" she asked, "What's wrong?"

"They were..." he stammered, blushing furiously, "And I..I saw..."

She looked at him, eyebrow raised.

"You know it would be annoying if you didn't explain yourself properly." she said, sarcastically.

She went to the door and knocked. As soon as she heard Ryu say "Come in.", she opened.

"Come on, Kudo." she said, "Didn't you say that you forgot to take something? Go ahead: we don't have the all day."

Shinichi quickly went in the room, opened his backpack, took what he had to take and headed to the door. He did this very quickly. However, before leaving, he turned to Ryu and Rei.

"Sorry." he muttered.

They just smiled sheepishly. Shiho looked at the three and figured out what had happened.

"See you later." she said, closing the door.

Rei turned to Ryu, wondering what was going to happen.

He looked at her.

"I had to tell you something too, remember?"

"Yes." she replied, uncertainly.

"Can I tell it to you now?"

"Of course.."

Ryu leaned towards her. Rei felt her face grow hot as his lips stopped millimeters from hers.

"Rei, this is something I've wanted to tell you for a long time." he whispered, looking in her eyes, "I have always loved you. From the moment we first met, I just knew that I felt something for you but I never told you anything because I didn't want to ruin our friendship in any way."

Rei felt as though her heart was going to burst.

"I love you, too." she said softly, "I've always did and I didn't say anything for the same reason."

Ryu wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him.

"It seems that we've been worrying for nothing." he said softly, smiling.

"Yes." she replied smiling and cuddled against him. "For nothing."

* * *

Shinichi was still red in the face when he left the surgery. Shiho was trying hard not to laugh.

"Why didn't you stop me?" he asked suddenly, turning to her.

"You could have knocked, couldn't you?" she asked instead and he blushed again.

"So that's why you wanted us to leave..." he said, after a while, "You wanted to leave them alone."

"I thought you had understood this right away, Kudo." she replied, "You're the famous detective after all." Shinichi rolled his eyes and Shiho smirked. "By the way, what did you forget? We had barely reached the front door, after having informed the doctor that Ryu had got up, that you dashed back to the room."

He didn't answer; instead, he pulled a cap from his pocket.

Shiho stared at him.

"You went back just to take.. a cap?" she asked. "Why...?"

She stopped as he put the cap on her head. She looked at him quizzically.

"In this way, no one should recognize you." he said, "You're in danger in this form, remember?"

She nodded, taken aback.

"Thanks..." she mumbled, "But what about you?"

He showed her his glasses, Conan's glasses, and put them on.

"This should be enough." he said with a smile and walked on.

Shiho lowered the cap on her eyes and glanced at Shinichi. He had rushed back just to take this cap for her.. For her safety. She smiled and followed him.

The man of the car rental was already there. Shinichi made up an excuse for Rei and thanked him for his help while Shiho checked if they had left anything in the car. When she was sure that everything was okay (no blood stains on the seats for example), Shinichi paid for the rent and the man left with the car.

"One problem is over." he said as the car sped away, "So, shall we get something for breakfast?"

Shiho nodded and they headed to a bar. While they were walking, she noticed a line of cars at the side of the main road and few people getting out of them. Her eyes widened; she grabbed Shinichi's wrist and moved out of sight.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

"Look over there." she replied, pointing to their left.

Shinichi turned around and his mouth dropped open.

"What are _they _doing here?"

Inspector Megure, Takagi and a couple of policemen were there, talking to each other. There was also a familiar grey car: Detective Mouri and Ran were there, too.

"What do you think has happened?" he asked Shiho.

"Well, you called Megure last night to tell him to him about Scotch..."

"Yes, but I said that I heard a few shots and that they had to check out. Scotch was tied to a tree: it must have been easy for them to get him." Shinichi looked past the wall they were hiding. "What I don't understand is what Kogoroh is doing here."

"Do you think there's been a murder here?"

"Could be... Let's find out."

Shiho looked at him as though he had gone mad but he grinned and pointed at a policeman talking with an old man not far from them.

Shinichi and Shiho approached him slowly.

"Excuse me, what's happened?" Shinichi asked.

"What? Well, a murder." the officer replied absently. The old chap was half deaf and rather than telling him if he had seen anything or anyone suspicious, he was protesting for his arthritis. With a sigh, he turned away from the rambling man and turned to the teens. "We have received an anonymous call from a man saying that he heard a few gunshots in the woods. And when we got there, we find a man tied to a tree. Dead. Shot at the head."

Both Shinichi and Shiho froze as they heard this. It was an execution and the way of killing seemed terribly familiar...

"Did you notice anything?" the policeman asked, staring at them.

"No.. no." Shinichi said, shaking his head and forcing a smile, "We have just come here. We were only wondering what was happening."

"We shouldn't be bothering you.." Shiho remarked, "It's better if we go."

After saying this, the teens walked on towards the clinic.

The policeman didn't bother much to them; at his eyes, they were just two curious, young teens. He turned to the old and resumed the questioning.

-:-

Ran stifled a yawn as she got out of the car.

Inspector Megure had called very early at the agency and asked her father to come immediately to help him with another mysterious murder. Kogoroh had complained quite a bit because it was only seven in the morning and said that he wouldn't come but Megure knew how to convince him.

He said that the death was very strange and that only the great Detective Mouri could solve it.

As a result, Kogoroh accepted.

Ran looked around. It was a very small town and all was calm. Nobody seemed to know that a murder had occurred a few miles away. She had not seen the crime scene but just the description of the dead man had made her blood freeze in her veins.

They had come there to see if anyone had noticed anything strange; the police wanted to find a witness but there weren't many people around.

Just then, she noticed a young couple walking very quickly down a road in front of her. The boy looked oddly familiar even if he was far from her and giving her the back.

'Shinichi?' she thought, eyes widening, 'How...?'

She started to move before she could think what she was doing.

"Dad, I'll be back soon." she said and without waiting for her father's reply, she walked behind the boy, hoping to reach him.

-:-

"What do you think?" Shinichi asked Shiho as they walked as fast as they could towards the surgery.

"It's Gin." she replied firmly, "I'm sure of it. He killed Pisco and... Akemi in the same way: it's his modus operandi."

"I thought so too.. But why was he here? Scotch said that he was alone. Why was Gin here?" Shiho shrugged, not knowing what to say. Shinichi noticed that she was shivering slightly and tried to reassure her. "Well, he won't come here. It's full of policemen and he won't... damn it!"

He had casually glanced at a cars' wing mirror and saw Ran coming towards them. She was still at a fair distance but was catching up.

He grabbed Shiho's hand and began to run.

"Kudo, what..?" she asked as he dragged her.

"Ran's behind us." he said quickly, "We have to shake her off."

"You could stop and talk to her, saying that you are here for the murder."

Shiho almost slapped herself after she said this.

'Why am I telling him to go to Mouri?' she thought, 'Now, he'll probably stop and go to her, leaving me to...'

Her musings were interrupted when, to her great surprise, Shinichi ran faster, still holding her hand.

"I can't waste time with Ran." he remarked bluntly, "We have to get away from here as soon as possible. You're in danger because Gin could still be around and Ryu and Rei could be in trouble if the police goes to the surgery. They have both gunshot wounds and if someone questions the doctor or the nurses, they will find out that we've been in the woods last night."

Sharing a concerned glance, they both sped towards the surgery.

-:-

Ran was walking hurriedly behind the couple.

She was quite sure that the boy was Shinichi. She knew him since their childhood after all, but she didn't recognize the girl. A cap was covering her face.

Suddenly, they began to run.

Ran, slightly taken aback, sped after them a few seconds later. She felt a pang of jealousy, seeing that they were holding hands. She was still far from them when they turned to their right.

When she came to the turn, she saw that they had disappeared. She looked at her sides but nothing, they were not there.

Feeling very dejected, Ran turned around and walked back to her car.

'Maybe, it wasn't Shinichi but just one that looks like him.' she thought, 'Shinichi wouldn't have run away from me in that way... and he's not the type to hold a girl's hand. He always said that it was a girlish thing to do. No, I must have made a mistake.'

She walked on, fighting back the tears of disappointment that were filling her eyes.

-:-

Shinichi and Shiho had rushed inside the surgery at full speed. They shut the door behind them and leaned against it as they were catching their breath.

"We have to go and inform Ryu and Rei." Shinichi said, after a while. Shiho nodded.

When they headed to the room, they realised that they were still holding hands. Highly embarrassed, Shinichi let her go while Shiho stepped back, glad that the cap hid her red face.

As they came to Ryu's room, they found the door closed and Rei waiting outside. She looked up as they approached her.

"Agase has called." she said, before they could speak. Her tone was brisk. "He's nearly here. Scotch has been murdered: it was on the news."

"Yes, we know." Shinichi said, "Inspector Megure and Kogoroh are here with a group of policemen. We have to leave."

"Ryu's getting ready." Rei remarked, gesturing to the door. "We just have to wait for Agase's call. I told him to wait at the back of the surgery. Nobody should notice him."

"How did he call you?" Shiho asked.

"He called at Shinichi's earring phone. Good thing you forgot it in your backpack or we wouldn't be ready yet." Rei replied, handing the phone back to Shinichi.

"Is Ryu able to move?" he asked, pocketing the object, "Despite all his injuries?"

"He said that he can. I know that it's not the best for him but... we don't have other choice."

The door opened and Ryu appeared at the door frame, leaning on the wall for balance.

"I'm ready." he said, "We have to get our things now."

"Are you sure you can walk?" Shinichi asked, taking his backpack.

"Yes, I'll do it somehow. Don't worry." he replied, "We have to wait for Agase's call. I hope he'll be here soon. We have to leave."

"_Leave_?"

The four teenagers froze on the spot and slowly turned around. Dr. Mizuno and his nurses were at the door.

"What are you doing?" the doctor asked, folding his arms.

"Doctor... we have to leave." Ryu said.

"Young man, you are injured. I don't know how you're able to walk, or even stand up, but I can't let you leave. You need complete rest."

Ryu turned to the others, his eyes asking for help but they were just as lost as he was. How could they explain?

The doctor noticed their strange behaviour.

"Does your sudden departure have something to do with the murder that has happened last night?" he asked sharply. "In the forest?"

The four looked up at him, startled by the turn of events. Their minds were racing: they _had_ to find a way out.

"By the looks on your faces, it seems that I've guessed right." Dr. Mizuno remarked, "Am I right?"

"I'm sorry but we can't explain." Rei said.

"Why not?" he asked, looking at her, "Are you involved with the murder?"

Ryu turned to look at Rei and then at Shinichi and Shiho. He turned back to the doctor.

"We _are_ involved but not in the way you might think." he said quietly, "The man that has been killed is the one that has shot me and her." He noticed the look on the doctor's and the nurses' face. "He almost killed us but we didn't kill him. We left him in the woods unconscious but alive."

"Why should I believe someone that has lied?" Dr. Mizuno asked, "If you didn't have any faults, why did you make up an excuse? When you came here last night, you said that someone, a hunter, shot you accidentally. Why did you lie?"

"We had to." Rei said, "I'm sorry but we can't tell you anything else."

The room went silent. Ryu, Rei, Shinichi and Shiho glanced at each other, wondering if the doctor would report them. They hadn't been very convincing: they had hidden too many things.

A phone ring broke the silence. Shinichi took out the earring phone and answered.

"Hello? Agase, you're here already? We..." He looked from Dr. Mizuno and the nurses to Ryu, Rei and Shiho. "We.. Wait a bit, please. We will come out." He put the phone back in his pocket. "Hakase is waiting outside."

Ryu turned to Dr. Mizuno.

"Doctor, I know that we haven't been honest and have lied to you but we have our reasons. We can't tell you who we are or why were here."he said. "Please, let us leave. We can't stay here any longer."

"I know that you don't have any reason to believe us.." Rei stated, stepping to the front, "But we're not murderers or criminals. We called the police so that they could get that man but.. others got him after we left. And the same people are after us. Please, let us go."

Dr. Mizuno looked at the four teenagers with a searching gaze. After a couple of endless moments, he turned to the nurses and nodded. The nurses left.

"Don't worry." the man reassured, "I don't think that you're criminals and my nurses don't think so either. Don't ask me why, though." He smiled slightly. "I saw how worried you were when your friend was wounded and how promptly you gave your blood to save him. I don't think that murderers or criminals would be so loyal towards each other." The four just sighed with relief as he said this. "Nobody knows that you have been here, except me, Atsuko and Nami.

Don't worry, we won't say anything."

"I don't know how to thank you, Doctor." Ryu said, "For having saved my life and.. for this."

"It's nothing. By the way, you..." He turned around as Nami came back with a pair of crutches. "You have to walk with these for a while and, most of all, you have to rest. For a few weeks at least. No other activities besides bed rest, am I clear? Doctor's orders."

"Of course." Ryu said, taking the crutches.

Dr. Mizuno turned to Rei.

"Young lady, you have to rest, too. The wound will heal in a couple of days but you have suffered a minor blood loss too. And look after this young man." He looked at Ryu with a allusive smile. "He seems to be a pretty active. Be sure that he keeps still, otherwise his recovery will be extremely slow."

Rei smiled.

"I'll take care of him, Doctor." she replied, glancing at Ryu, "Don't worry."

At last, he turned to Shinichi and Shiho.

"As for you two, I think you should rest for a day or two. You have given a lot of blood for your friends: your bodies have been weakened." he said, "And keep an eye on your friends, all right?"

They both nodded, smiling slightly.

Ryu walked to the door on his crutches.

"We have to go." he remarked. He approached Dr. Mizuno and shook his hand. "Thanks, doctor."

"Take care of yourselves." he replied.

Rei, Shiho and Shinichi said goodbye to the doctor and they all left the surgery through the back door. Agase's yellow Beetle car was outside.

"Here you are!" Professor said, coming towards them, "Wha..? Ryu-kun, what's happened to you? And to you Rei-kun?"

"We'll explain later, Agase." Ryu said.

"Don't worry." Rei added. "We're fine now."

Agase looked at them with concern as they went inside the car. He then turned around and saw Shinichi and Shiho. His eyes widened.

"Shinichi-kun? Ai-kun? You're...normal now! How..?"

The boy stopped him from thundering them with questions.

"We'll tell you later, Agase. We have to leave now."

He got in the car's front seat while Shiho sat behind with Ryu and Rei.

"All right." Agase said, seeing that no one wanted to answer his questions. He started the car and sped out of the town. When he was sure that they were quite far he resumed his questioning.

"Can someone please explain now?"

No reply.

"Shinichi-kun? Rei-kun? Ai-kun, no, Shiho-kun? Ryu-kun?"

Still no one replied.

He turned to his side and looked back. He smiled slightly.

They were all fast asleep.

"Oh, well... " he said, speeding to Tokyo, "It seems that my questions will have to wait.."

* * *

[1] I know... It's dark and he wears sunglasses? But I really can't imagine Vodka without them and, by the way, in the manga (Vol. 37), Vodka is shown in a night scene wearing glasses, so I'm not so wrong..

[2] Taken from the manga. I think it was Sonoko's first case as sleeping detective.

REVIEW!

Bye-bye.


	15. My real feelings

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Detective Conan .

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

_**Chapter 14**_

_My real feelings.  
_

Conan was lying on his bed, hands crossed behind his head, gazing at the blank ceiling. Bright moon rays filtered into the room through the shutter holes.

It was nearly midnight but he didn't feel like sleeping. He was still too alert and there were too many things running through his mind: the events of the past two days kept replaying in his head.

They, Ryu, Haibara, Rei and himself, had faced Scotch, a member of the Organisation, and had narrowly escaped death.

There had been consequences, though: Rei had been shot at an arm and Ryu had been wounded so badly that he had risked to die for the blood loss. His desperate situation had forced him and Haibara to use the temporary antidote pills that she had been carrying with her so that they could give him the blood for a transfusion.

Ryu was fine now, thanks to the lucky coincidence that the four of them shared the same blood group; had it been different, Ryu wouldn't have survived.

Conan sighed. He couldn't shake off the feeling that had been nagging him ever since the four of them had left the forest, looking for a clinic.

He hadn't helped the others.

Besides the blood transfusion, he hadn't done anything. If it wasn't for Rei and, especially, for Ryu, he might not be there. They had protected him and Haibara in the woods from Scotch, putting their lives in great danger while they did so.

Moving slightly in his bed, Conan wondered if he would have been more helpful if he had been in his true state; had he been Shinichi, how would have things gone?

He quickly found out that it wouldn't have made any difference.

For the first time, the first time in his life, he realised that he could be a burden rather than an aid.

Even though he could equal the others in knowledge, he wasn't at their level when it came to frontal encounters. He didn't know how to fight or shoot properly. What help could _he_ give if they found themselves in a similar situation again? Or in a worse one?

Haibara's case was different because she had skills that he hadn't, thanks to the training that she had undergone in the Organisation from the youngest age. As a matter of fact, she had been the one to knock down Scotch.

Even if they were all the same age, he felt as though he was a step behind Ryu, Rei and Haibara. A small but yet very important step that he absolutely wanted to climb.

He had talked to Ryu about this yesterday.

He knew that the other boy would have understood and would have probably helped him.

What _he_ didn't expect were Ryu's words..

Conan closed his eyes and memories came back to his mind.

-:-

_It was about four in the__ afternoon__ and they were all at Agase's house. _

_Shinichi, Shiho, Ryu and Rei had finished to tell Professor what had happened after their sudden departure and the old scientist was totally shocked. _

_"Bu.. but, no one else knows that you're here, right?" he asked, loo__king at the teens seated at his kitchen table. He looked at each face, looking for a positive response.__ "You're all safe now, right?"_

_"We're safe at the moment." Ryu remarked qui__etly__, "Scotch said that he had come alone and I think tha__t__ he was sincere. He wanted to get Rei and me on his own so that he could get all the merits. I think that he was the only one to know where we liv__ed."_

_"What if he told everything to his killer?" Agase retorted._

_"To Gin?" Shiho asked in reply, her__ elbow propped on the table and her chin lying on her open palm. __"Knowing him, he probably thi__nks that__ Ryu must have left his hiding since Scotch knew where it was, eve__n though not specifically.__ It's the same thi__ng__ tha__t we suggested __aft__er he tried to kill me __at the Beika hotel."_

_"Hmm, you could be right, Ai-k... Shiho-kun." Hakase replied wit__h a nod, looking thoughtful._

_"What I'd like to know is how Gin found out where Scotch was." Shinichi said, lea__ning on his chair, __"No one besides us and Megure, who I called, knew that he was in that woods.. Do you think tha__t__ the Organisation could have put someone to follow him since they thought he was in collusion with the two of you?"_

_"Then why didn't they take advantage of the moment?" Rei retorted, loo__king over Shiho towards him,__ "I mean... when you three managed to knock down Scotch.. in__ that moment,__ we were totally and com__pletely__ defenseless. If Gin or some other agent was there, he could have easily kil__led__ us all. I don't think tha__t__ they would have wasted tha__t__ opportunity to get us if the__y were there."_

_"You're right.." the__ young detective admitted, cupping his chin with his hand,__ "It won't make any sense. Then how..? Hang on..." Shinichi'__s head shot up.__ "What if they knew of my call to Inspector Megure? Wha__t if they heard that call?"_

_"That's what I was thinking too." Ryu remarked, turning to him and loo__king grave.__ "The Organisation could have bugged the local police station's phone lines. They might have a few suspects about Beika: they met Shiho here a few months ago and I was see__n__ here too. It's too much of a coincidence that two ex-members are seen in the same place; besides, they know that Shinichi lives here and since they're not so sure tha__t__ you're dead, they could have bugged the phone lines at the police station in case you showed up, ask__ing for help."_

_A stunned silence in the room gre__eted Ryu's words._

_"Good thing you used the bow tie to change your voice, Shinichi." Rei said, after a while, "Otherwise, they would have known that you're still alive."_

_"Yeah, but this bri__ngs out another__ big problem: it means that there are double-crossers in the__ Japanese__ police, too." Shinichi remarked, sitting up, "What can we do? The Organisation is slowly expanding everywhere. "_

_The room went silent again as the four teenagers thought of what was going on. _

_Agase got up sud__denly._

_"I thi__nk that it would__ be better if you don't think about this now."_

_"WHAT?" the four teens exclaimed together looking at him._

_"Listen, you all have to rest." the old scientist stated, " You have gone through some hard moments in the last 24 hours. Ryu-kun and Rei-kun, you're both injured: I think you should rest a bit. I'll call you when dinner's ready. Shinichi-kun, Shiho-kun, why don't you help them go upstairs? And you two rest a bit, too: donating blood weakens a lot. And no complaints."_

_He said the last sentence very firmly._

_The teenagers looked at each other with a slightly amused expression and nodded in agreement._

_Shinichi helped Ryu go upstairs with his crutches while Shiho and Rei walked behind._

_"When will the antidote's effect wear off?" Ryu asked as they stopped in front of the girls' room. _

_"Around eleven thirty." Shinichi answered, "That's why I'm staying here tonight. I can't go back to the Mouri's in this form."_

_"Why not?" Rei asked, "Mouri-san would be happy to see you."_

_"Yeah, but I don't want to see her..." Shinichi rep__lied absently and __paused as his last few words sank in. He looked up and saw Rei and Shiho staring at him._

_'Well, someone's finally being honest...!' Rei thought, amused._

_"See you later..." he mumbled and went into Ryu and Agase's room and closed the door._

_'Where the__ hell did__ that come out from?' he thought, run__ning a hand through his hair._

_Ryu came in a few moments later and lied on his bed, wincing as his bones and muscles ached. He looked at his side and saw that Shinichi was staring at him from his futon._

_"Scotch beat you up well, huh?" he said._

_"Yes, I didn't think tha__t__ he wou__ld be__ so strong." the__ blond replied, slowly stretching out his legs. "__My entire body is aching. The wound doesn't hurt much now."_

_"Maybe you should sleep a bit."_

_"Yeah and you too. Rei told me that you three haven't slept much in the surgery."_

_As in cue, Shinichi yawned. Ryu smiled slightly._

_"Good-night, then."_

_"Yeah, good-night."_

_-:-_

_It was nearly nine o'clock__._

_They had just had dinner together: none of the teens rea__lised__ how hungry they were till they saw the table full of food. Agase had foreseen this and had prepared quite a lot of things._

_Ryu and Shinichi were back in there room while Shiho and Rei were in the lab: they were going to check if there were any news about Scotch's murder on web. Ryu had wanted to help too but Agase and Rei stopped him, saying that for the next weeks he would be only resting and sho__uldn't even__ try to work. _

_Complaining was useless, so Ryu went back upstairs with Shinichi; Agase had ask__ed__ the detective to keep an eye on Ryu._

_"Seems that I'll have to spe__nd__ the next weeks lying on this bed." Ryu said with a frown, "Joy__..."_

_Shinichi sat down on Agase's bed and smirked._

_"Bored already?" he asked tea__singly._

_"I'd like to see you in my place." the engineer retorted, "There are thousands of things to do and I can't just stay here... calml__y__ in bed. First of all, we should call Matt."_

_"Why?"_

_"Well, it was the second step of the plan, remember? We're almost done with the files: there are only anothe__r few more__ to work out. We could call, talk to him, send him all the information we have and start the final step and bring the Organisation down."_

_Shinichi kept quiet: he wanted to bring the Organisation down. God knew how much he wanted it. But after what had happened with Scotch, he wasn't sure of being able to help as much as he wanted to or be up to the others' expectations. The final step of the plan would mean that they would have to face even more dangers. If he wanted to be useful, he had to learn how to behave in certain situations._

_"Oi, Shinichi, are you all right?" Ryu asked._

_Shinichi looked up: Ryu was staring at him._

_"You look a bit.. worried. Are you sure you're ok?" he asked again._

_"Yes, I... well, no, not really." he replied. "I was just thinking of what happened yesterday."_

_"What about it?"_

_"Well, as a first thing, I think I have to give you my apologies."_

_"What for? You only warned me from myself. Your words helped me and stopped me from killing." Ryu smiled, "As for the wounds and injuries, I should have been more careful. I underestimated Scotch. It's not your fault. Really."_

_Shinichi smiled slightly._

_"Ok then. By the way, Ryu, can I ask you a thing?" _

_"Sure, what's up?" he asked, slowly sitting up._

_"How much did it take you to learn everything you know?"_

_Ryu looked slightly puzzled for a moment._

_"Everything I know?" he repeated._

_"Not your studies." Shi__nichi hastily added,__ "All the rest."_

_"Oh, I see." Ryu said, understanding what he meant, "Well, I took a martial arts course back in America and while I was in university, I joined the boxing club with Matt. I only did it to get some fighting skills: I didn't care of matches or else. Then, while I was entering FBI, I had to follow a shooting course along with a self-defence one: they were compulsory courses to become an agent. As soon as I got in, I got in contact with a bomb disposal expert and he taught a few things about weapons and bombs."_

_"Did Rei do the same?" Shinichi asked._

_"She followed the FBI courses with me and Matt; then she took a martial arts course, too. She should be pretty good." Ryu grinned. "That's why I never want her to get angry: she could kill me, mind you. And that's all, I think. She followed other courses but they were all advanced classes of computer science."_

_"And at the Organisation? They probably tested you, didn't they?"_

_"Yes, they did but I knew they would. They tested all my skills: strength, physical stamina, reflexes, ability to shoot with different kinds of guns, aim and fighting skills. That's the test all members have to go through: Ai told me so."_

_Shinichi didn't even look at him: Ryu, Rei and Haibara were all prepared to face the Organisation but he wasn't. Not at all._

_Ryu stared at him again. He had understood what was going on and where he was getting with all his questions._

_"Shinichi, there is something else, right?"_

_The boy looked up and nodded._

_"Ryu, I was wondering if you could teach me some basis of fighting and shooting." he said. "Yesterday, I realised how unprepared I was. You were right when you said that Haibara and I had to turn into our__ normal states__ soon: we're not able to protect ourselves when we're two kids. How__ever, __aft__erwards__ I understood that I couldn't have done much even if I was in my real state. Haibara could have helped you and Rei but I would have been only a burden."_

_Ryu looked at him. He knew what it meant to feel like that: wanting to help someone at any cost but being unable to do it because of a lack of skills and abilities. Feeling useless..  
_

_Fla__mes... Wood burning and creaking... A pleading scream for help..._

_"Listen, I understand very well how you feel.." Ryu began, sha__king off unbidden memories from his head._

_"So, will you teach me?" Shinichi cut him through, eagerly._

_"Hey, wait!" Ryu said, slightly taken back by his behaviour. He sat up, leaning on the head bed and turned to him. "Listen, I will be outspoken." He was serious. _

_"I've learned how to fight and shoot decently after two years and after courses and practice. You probably want to learn in less time because you want to help us block the Organisation, right?" Shinichi nodded. "Well, it will be hard to carry out. I mean, it will take me a few weeks to recover and even more time to walk without the crutches. _

_Then, there's you: you will become Conan. Ai's working hard on the antidote but I don't think it will be ready that soon."_

_"So, you can't help me?" Shinichi asked, crestfallen._

_To his great surprise, Ryu smiled._

_"I didn't say that. I just said that if you want to learn, you will have to suffer because it will be tough." he said, "Very tough. So, you're sure you want to learn?"_

_"Of course." Shinichi replied. "When will we start?"_

_"Hang on..." __Ryu remarked, "There is a thing I need to know before. Why do you want to learn to fight and shoot?"_

_Shinichi looked at him with astonishment._

_"I've already told you why I want to do it." he said, "I want to help bring the Organisation down and I don't want to be a burden."_

_"That's not a reason: that's your objective." Ryu retorted, "You need a reason otherwise, I don't think you'll be able to go through the ...er- lessons I'll give you. Believe me, you need a good reason: something that spurs you and supports you when you are in a difficulties."_

_"What was your reason?" Shinichi asked, unable to give an answer._

_"What is my reason, you mean." he said, "Well, you know my story: I don't have to repeat it. For the last five years, I had only one thought in my mind: discover the truth about my family's death. I don't know if it was a reason or an obsession, but it gave me the strength to overcome difficulties. I encountered many of them: both in studies and in entering FBI."_

_"Rei must have your same reason." Shinichi remarked, "She decided to enter FBI to know the truth about her parents."_

_"Probably. But there are also others factors now.." Ryu said, "After I entered FBI, another reason spurred me, along with my family's thought."_

_"What was it?"_

_"Protecting the people I care about: the Xanders, Matt,.. Rei." Ryu smiled embarrassedly, "Especially Rei. I think that's good reason: it gives you strength to go on without giving up. You know, I think Shiho must have had a similar thing in her head while she was in the Organisation. Maybe, she thought of her sister and that helped her to bear living in such a dark and cruel place." Ryu glanced at Shinichi. "Everyone has a different reason to do or want to do something. It can be the desire to find out the truth or the thought of protecting the ones you love. These are for example, the reasons that have let Rei, Shiho and me get through all a series of difficulties. _

_Now, which is yours?"_

_"I..I don't know." Shinichi said quietly._

_"Sorry but until you find out why you really want to fight and to shoot, I'm not going to even consider the idea of teaching you." Ryu said firmly, " Don't misunderstand, I'm not doing it because I don't want to help you; it's all the way round, I think that if you clear up your mind, you'll find the real reason that spurs you and you'll be able to go through the hardest of trainings and learn all what you want. So, as soon as you'll know your reason, we'll start, ok?"_

_Shinichi nodded._

-:-

'Why do I want to learn to fight and shoot?'

He had been thinking of the answer to this question for the entire day but he still hadn't come to a conclusion. He sighed again. Why was it so hard?

'Let's see... I don't have secrets of my past to discover as Ryu and Rei and fortunately, my parents are safe and sound.' he thought.

Conan had decided to clear his mind the same way he solved cases: coolly, logically and considering every hypothesis.

'Well, this brings me to the second option: protection. Let's see, who would I want to protect? My parents and Agase that knows me since I was a kid... No, I care for them a lot but this isn't the reason. Er- who else? My friends! Hattori... No, I'm not doing it for him. Rei.. I care a lot for her, too but it's not her. By the way, Ryu's with her: I know he will always protect her. I can trust him to protect my.. 'Neechan Rei. Ryu... he's a good friend and I felt guilty that he got shot but no... It's not him either..'

Conan opened his eyes and sat up. There were two persons left in his "examination". The same people that had been coming back to his mind very often in the last two days.

Ran and Haibara.

'Ran... I really care for her. We have been friends for so long that I can hardly remember. And after I've disappeared into thin air, the day we went out together at the park, she's been waiting for me to come back, crying almost every night. I know this only because I live here as Conan: she never told Shinichi how she really felt. She never told me anything when I called: she just asked when I was coming back or what I was doing for so much time. Maybe, she trusts me more as Conan. The little boy that she treats as a brother, to whom she says everything without hiding her feelings. I have felt her pain so many times: I wanted to hug her tight and comfort her. How many times I've been tempted to tell her the truth: Ran, I am Shinichi! I'm next to you!

But I didn't do it: I'm still hiding myself, living the double life of Conan and Shinichi and I'm still lying to her.

Why don't I say the truth?

I don't want her to be in danger.

If the Organisation finds out that I'm alive, she'd risk her life. I don't want anyone to risk for me: that's why I told only a few people about my.. er- double-identity. Mom, Dad, Hakase, Hattori.. he found out on his own and I made him swear not to tell anyone.. Rei, Ryu and Haibara... they know because they are involved with the Organisation even more than I am. I can trust them.

But coming back to Ran, I think that this isn't the only reason. It's true that I don't want her to be in danger but there's more... If Ran knew what had happened to me, would she understand my wish to bring the Organisation down? I came to her house so that I could hear any news about murders and other crimes that could be related to them. Would she understand what it means to me? Would she let me run some risks to find them? No, I don't think so: she would only get worried. If she's worried about me, thinking I'm abroad working on cases, I wonder how much she'll worry if she finds out what I'm really doing. It's better if she doesn't know.'

Conan looked at his watch: a quarter to one. He still didn't feel like sleeping and, anyway, he had to come to a conclusion.

After dinner, Ran had talked with him. She asked him how the camping had gone and why he didn't tell her before. He had to make up a story on the spot and she seemed satisfied. Trying to change the subject, he asked what she had done and she told him about the murder.

An anonymous phone call saying that gunshots had been heard in the woods, a man tied to a tree and shot at the head. An execution. No clues or footprints and the only gun was the victim's. Even her father didn't know how to solve this case (Conan hid a smirk when she said this). Then, they went to the town next to the woods to see if someone had noticed something.

When she came to this point, Ran's face saddened. Conan asked her what was wrong and she just vented out all her feelings. She said that while she was waiting with her father, she noticed a boy that looked exactly as Shinichi, or rather, she was sure it was him. She had tried to catch up with him but suddenly he began to run and she lost his tracks.

Tears of disappointment shone in her eyes when she added that he wasn't alone but with a girl. She didn't see her face because a cap covered it and because she was far from them but, judging by the clothing, she had to be a girl. Conan tried to comfort her, saying that she could have made a mistake since she was too far. Tears slowly flowed on her cheeks but after a while, she hastily wiped them away, saying that he could be right. After all, the last time he had called, Shinichi had said that he was still abroad for his cases. She probably did mistake that boy for him.

She laughed embarrassedly thinking that she was probably running after a couple of lovers that we're walking together, holding hands. Conan had laughed too but he felt a twinge at his heart.

Conan lied back on his bed. He knew why he had felt like that.

'Two lovers walking together, holding hands... Haibara and I? Lovers?'

He felt his face grow hot at the thought.

But, besides that, he noticed that he didn't feel guilty. When he saw Ran's tears of disappointment, he felt sorry for her but not guilty. Not at all.

'I used to feel guilty when she cried for me.' he thought, 'But in these last months, something has changed. I have changed. At the beginning, I thought that I was getting used to be Conan but I was wrong: I can't wait to be Shinichi again.

My attitude towards Ran has changed... I call her randomly: only once a month. I don't spend a lot of time with her as I used to and I don't beg her to take me everywhere she goes. It's not that I don't care for her anymore... I care for her as I care for anyone else... as a friend. That's all.'

Conan gazed at the ceiling.

'What happened? I..I thought I loved Ran. I thought she was special for me.. If I didn't love her, why was I so jealous when Dr. Araide showed up? Why was I so overprotective with her? Could it be possible that what I thought was love was, actually, friendship? A long and beautiful friendship... I know Ran since I was -how much? Five? Yes and we have been together for all these years.

When my parents left to settle in America, Ran often came over to my house to see how I was doing alone. Oh, I was grateful to her but I never told her the truth.

Only Agase and Rei knew how I really felt: all the loneliness in my heart and the pain for the distance from my parents. It was a natural thing, after all, I was only thirteen when they left but I never showed my feelings to anyone.

Agase knew immediately how I felt... He knows me too well: he had seen me grow up. I told Rei, instead, because I trusted her and I knew that she would understand. She was the first person with whom I was totally sincere. I never said everything to Ran.. I never figured out why.

Maybe, because I wanted her to think of me as her cool childhood friend that was a great detective, with a famous novelist as a father and an actress as a mother, that lived in a big house and that didn't seem to have any problems.. I didn't want her to think of my problems: she had her own with her divorced parents. I didn't want her to suffer more...

This is absurd! I thought I was in love Ran for years but I never knew what she felt for me. Then, I shrink into a kid and she confesses me that she loves me. Everything could be perfect and while I'm waiting to be myself again, I find out that I don't love her anymore!'

He had said it.

It took him a few seconds to realise. The words sank in.

'I don't love Ran, anymore... So that's the truth: it has come up at last. Ryu told me that I had to clear my mind to find a reason but it seems that I've found something else. I loved Ran and now, I don't love her anymore. WHY? WHAT HAPPENED?' he thought furiously, clutching his head with his hands, 'WHO DO I LOVE THEN ?'

A few images flashed in his mind.

A little girl with reddish-blonde hair and light blue eyes who was walking in front of him. She tilted her head towards him, without turning around completely:a smile, a faint smile danced on her lips for a few seconds. Then the same girl but ten years older with the difference that she was smiling sincerely. Her features seemed to be burnt in his mind for how much they were clear. He had seen that smile for the first time only two days ago.. but he couldn't forget it.

Conan sat up quickly, eyes wide and heart beating fast. It seemed that his own mind had answered his question. It was something he didn't know or maybe... he had never admitted it to himself.

"Ai...? he said softly, "Shiho?"

He blushed: he had called her by name. It had never happened before. But then, he remembered.

'I called her with her first name the day of the bus-jack... when I rescued her... and also the day I made my promise.' he thought, 'The promise to protect her.'

He thought this over.

'Come to think of it, I don't know why I made that promise. I was worried when she disappeared that day... _very_ worried. I didn't want her to go away.. I didn't want her to risk her life... I didn't want.. to loose her. That's true: I care for her and I don't want to loose her... she's a friend... but love her? How did I fall in love with her?'

He slowly replayed in his mind the first day he met her.

'Her first day of school... she sat down next to me instead of sitting next to Genta.. Ayumi tried to make friends with her... I blushed when she glanced at me and smiled. Then our first case together, her perfect shot at the window to scare the criminal, her perfect childish behaviour in front of Inspector Megure when she faked to cry..' Conan smiled as he remembered this. 'She was good at it: I really thought she was a little kid. I was so annoyed to walk a sobbing little girl home... but then, she stopped in the middle of the street and said that name: APTX-4869. She said that she created it and that her code name was Sherry. She said that she lived at Beika street 2/22.. Agase's address...

I panicked and ran to his house.. just to find him safe and sound.'

Conan lay back on his bed again, thinking of what happened after.

'She told me everything. The Organisation had sent her to inspect my house: they weren't sure that I had really died. She noticed that the clothes I wore when I was smaller had disappeared but she didn't say it to anyone and just wrote down that my death was confirmed... I never thanked her for that. She saved my life without even knowing me and I never thanked her... I'm such an idiot...

Then, she told me of her betrayal: she betrayed the Organisation because they killed her sister. She wanted answers but they didn't give her any... she threatened to stop her researches on the poison and they tried to kill her, handcuffing her to the pipes of a gas chamber. She decided to kill herself rather than be killed by them... she took her own poison.. but it betrayed her. She was still alive and she was a child... well, it didn't take her much to figure out that the same had happened to me. She managed to escape and once out, she went to the only place she knew besides the Organisation's headquarters: my house. Agase found her unconscious in front of my house's gates and helped her... He told her about me and gave her a new name: Ai Haibara. He trusted her immediately... but I didn't. I didn't want to trust her..'

Conan felt a pang of guilt as he remembered the way he treated her.

'She had come to my house because she wanted help. She thought I could understand how she felt, but I... I didn't even want to hear her. I just blamed her. I blamed her for everything: creating the poison, causing the death of many people, causing my shrinking... being one of them... If Agase hadn't stopped me, I would have said even worse things. I can't forget her face: shock, disappointment, guilt and pain. All these feelings flickered on her face, shattering her a cool mask for a few seconds.

How could I be so selfish?

I was angry and frustrated: I hardly knew something about the Organisation, I didn't know how to catch them and I was tired of being Conan. I was also mad because I thought that the criminals we had met that day were members of the Organisation, instead they were only a gang of counterfeit criminals. I just wanted to vent my anger and frustration on someone... and I did it on her. And then, I found out that I knew her sister. Her name was Akemi Miyano but I knew her as Masami Hirota. The woman I had failed to save: she was her sister. Haibara cried in front of me, asking desperately why I hadn't saved her.

What could I say? I just let her cry on my shoulder, without saying anything.'

Conan sighed again and looked at the ceiling.

'She doesn't blame me anymore now.' he thought, 'That's what she said when we talked at the surgery. The only one she blames is Gin. But I can't stop blaming myself: I have hurt her so much... I didn't save her sister and then I blamed her as though she was responsible for all my problems. Maybe, that's why she was sure that I was worried about her only because she's making the antidote. You're the world's biggest fool, Kudo!

You love her but she will never love you back since you have treated her as the worst of criminals the first day you met.'

Conan's heart skipped a beat. He had finally admitted it.

'Out with it, Kudo. You can't lie anymore.' he thought, 'I love her. That's why I stare at her without a reason, I blush when she looks or smiles at me and my heartbeats double. That's why I felt that twitches in the stomach when she was with Ryu the first times. I was... jealous.

Oh God, Rei was right. How did she understand it before me? Does she know me so well? Ok, I've never been good with feelings but these are mine! How did Rei figure them out? If Ai knew this, she'd say that I'm clueless as usual..

I confessed it only to her. To Ai.. no, to Shiho. It's unbelievable..

I saw her for the first time only two days ago and I can't get her out of my head. I've fallen really hard...

How do you call it? Yeah, love at first sight. I, Shinichi Kudo, have fallen for Shiho Miyano from the first moment I saw her while in the previous months, as Conan Edogawa, I was in love with Ai Haibara, without realising it.'

He felt his face grow hot as he finally admitted his feelings to himself. In that moment, he realised many things: many strange behaviours he didn't understand before.

'That's why I spent so much time at Agase's house... I wanted to stay with her, next to her. And the fact that I have to help Rei and Ryu with their files or that I was there to help her with the antidote... all excuses... Hey, wait a minute, these could be excuses but I _did_ go to Agase's place to help. I want to help with the files: I want to help bring the Organisation down and I also want to help with the antidote because I can't wait to be myself again. Besides, this finally explains my attitude towards Ran. Why I didn't want to call her often, why I didn't hang around with her or be with her every moment. Ran's only a friend for me now. I care for her greatly but.. only as a friend.

Ai has taken her place in my heart.'

Conan was struggling with his feelings. He thought of Ran and felt sorry for her: she was waiting Shinichi to come back and stay with her. He didn't want to play with her feelings and make her suffer. He had to tell her the truth sooner or later. And he also had to prepare her from loosing Conan: the antidote would be ready in a month more or less...

And then, he felt a pleasant, happy, warm feeling when he thought of Ai. It was useless to deny it: he loved her. That's all but he also realised how hard this would be for him.

'I don't know much of her.' he thought, 'She was born and grew up in a dark criminal organisation. Her parents' worked for it and after their death, she and her sister had been forced to work for it, too. She never had a family and she hardly saw her sister. Shiho has never tasted a joyful life, she doesn't know how normal seventeen years old live and enjoy life.

All she did was experiments, making poisonous medicine for that Black Organization... but she didn't become like one of them. She's not cruel and bad as Gin and Vodka: she didn't loose her heart. Well, her character has been affected by them. Ai never shows her real feelings and doesn't make anyone feel pity for her despite her tragic past. She's _very_ pretty, very intelligent, cool and mysterious.' Conan smiled, blushing slightly, as he thought this, 'She always looks cold and unruffled. She looks like she's ready to go away, turn her back towards everyone and never mind anything else. However, if necessary, she'll lay down her life for friends... silently and calmly. Like that time at the bus-jack: she didn't go away from the dangerous bus because she wanted to protect everybody. She accepted dead for herself because of her friends' lives. Ryu and Rei are like her. Maybe, that's why they get along so well and why she was so concerned about them when they got wounded. Thinking of it, I'm a bit like her too. However, Ai's... unique... there isn't another way to define her. Her character has many faces: she's tough and feeble, unruly and soft, she's proud but she sometimes feels inferior... all these things make her personality.

Despite her coolness, under the mask she has created to hide her feelings I know she cares for the people around her. She silently takes care of her friends: Agase, Ryu, Rei, Ayumi, Genta, Mitsuhiko... me.

She cares for me... as a friend. She always encourages me and helps me when we find ourselves working in a case together. When I sometimes get nervous or discouraged because I don't figure out a detail of a crime, Ai often calms me down. It's just a word or a look she gives me but it works... I relax and the solution of the case comes.

I never realised how important she is for me... wait, maybe I _did_ know it but I never really admitted it to myself. When I knew that she was still inside the bus, the day of the bus-jack, I hurried and ran to save her. I didn't want to loose her... she's important for me... her friendship is precious for me. Well, we never really said it aloud but we _are_ friends and I think that our bond has deepened with the talk we had two days ago.. as Shinichi and Shiho. We cleared out some doubts we had about each other. I trust her even more than I did before and... I hope, she trusts me more.

As for my feelings towards her... well, I think I'll have to keep it to myself at the moment.

Our friendship's going on well now, I can't.. I don't want to ruin it, saying something she might not accept. I'll love her in silence. I did it for all these past months without even knowing it, I don't think it will be hard to keep my feelings secret now that I know them... or at least, I _hope_ it won't be hard.'

Conan looked at the time again: two in the morning and he still hadn't found the reason for which he wanted to learn fighting and shooting from Ryu. Suddenly, a thought came to his mind.

'Ryu said that a good reason was protecting those you care about.' he thought, 'Well, there are many people I care about... but I already said that I would protect someone... I promised Ai that I would protect her. Why did I promise her that?'

He closed his eyes and concentrated.

The answer was there in his mind or in his heart. He just had to find it.

'Well, I promised her that because... I don't want her to risk her alive... never again. I.. I don't want to see her suffer... I don't want to see her cry again. I don't want her to feel lonely: she's not alone. There are many people that care for her... I care for her. Even more than she thinks of... I love her. I don't want anything to happen to her. That's why I want to learn to fight and shoot properly: when we'll face the Organisation, I'll be there to protect her.'

Conan grinned: he had his mind clear now.

He had sorted his feelings.

* * *

That morning, during breakfast, Conan felt strange when Ran greeted him.

He couldn't bear to see her happy face, knowing how she would suffer when he'll tell her the truth about his feelings. But he managed to control himself. Shinichi will hurt her one day but Conan, at least, could do everything in his strengths to comfort her and cheer her up.

Shinichi will be the betrayer, Conan the lovely little brother. It was the only way...

When the Detective Boys came to pick him up, Ai was with them, too. A rare thing.

They usually picked her last. When Conan saw her, he felt heat just rush through his body and his face grew hot. He was sure that he was close to self combustion. He muttered a quick good-morning to everyone and trailed behind Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko.

Ai glanced at him and noticed the two black bags hanging from his eyes.

"Didn't you sleep last night, Kudo-kun?" she asked.

"Er- not much. I felt... er- restless." he replied. Suddenly, her words sank in deeper and he froze.

'_How_ did she just call me?' he thought, staring at her.

Ai understood right away.

"If you don't like it, I can call you as I usually do." she replied.

"N. no." he said, "I don't mind, Haibara. Really. But, how come..?"

"I just wanted to change." she replied, cutting through his question, "We're friends, right?"

Conan felt himself blushing.

"Sure." he said, "We're friends."

"All right. It's better if we hurry up: they're waiting for us." she said, pointing to the three kids on the other side of the street."Come on, Kudo-kun." She turned to him with a small smile on her face.

Conan smiled back and followed her.

'It's a start.' he thought, 'It might not mean anything but.. it's a start... and it sounds less formal than the usual -Kudo'

He smiled to himself and walked to school.

* * *

That afternoon, Conan walked Ai back home: he wanted to see how Ryu and Rei were and, most of all, he wanted to talk with Ryu. After having been greeted by Agase, they went upstairs and stopped at the girl's room. Rei was lying on her bed, reading. She looked up and smiled when she saw them.

"Ai, Shinichi, welcome back." she said, sitting up, "How was school?"

"Boring as usual." Conan said, smiling, "How's your arm, Rei?"

"It's recovering quickly. Another couple of days and the wound will be healed completely." she replied. "And then, I'll be able to go on with my work. Did you know that Agase has threatened to hide my laptop if he sees me in the lab?"

"What?" he asked, highly amused, "How come?"

"He said that until Rei's fully recovered, she shouldn't even think of working but only relax." Ai replied with a smirk.

"Really? What did he say to Ryu, then?"

Rei laughed.

"Agase had said the same to him, too but Ryu managed to come to a compromise since his recovery will take a lot more than mine. He will rest all this week, but from the next one, he'll start working." she replied, "Not in the lab but in his room, lying on his bed. In this way, they're both satisfied."

Conan smiled: he knew that Ryu wasn't the type to waste time relaxing, if he had work to do.

"Where is he?" he asked, "In his room?"

Rei nodded.

"Yes, he's been there since lunchtime. I went to see him and he's already complaining that he's getting bored." she said with a smile.

"So, he won't mind if I go and talk with him?"

"No, not at all. Go ahead."

Conan left Ai and Rei in their room and knocked Ryu's door.

"Come in." he said.

"Hi, Ryu. How you're doing?" Conan asked, closing the door behind him.

Ryu was lying on his bed with a book and a Mp3 reader on his side table.

" I'm bored!" he replied, "I'm injured -all right- and I have to rest -I agree- but staying an entire week without doing anything is impossible."

"Well, try to hang on. It's only a week, then you can work, right?"

"Yeah, good thing I managed to convince Professor, otherwise who knows what I'd have done... hey, what's up?" he asked since Conan was staring at him with a slight smile on his face.

"I found the reason." he said simply.

Ryu looked at him for a moment and slowly sat up.

"Really?" he asked, "Well, go on then, what is it?"

"I have to keep a promise. I promised to protect.. a person. That's why I want to learn: I don't want anything to happen to... this person." Conan said. He didn't say that the person in question was Ai, not because he didn't trust Ryu but because he wasn't still ready to admit his feelings to someone. He had admitted them to himself just last night. He looked at Ryu. "Is that a good reason? I mean, will you teach me?"

Ryu glanced at him and smiled.

"Sure. I only wanted you to be motivated and I knew you would find a good reason, anyway." he said, grinning. "Otherwise, _why_ do you think I asked Agase to work in my room from next week?"

A grin spread on Conan's face too.

"To do the training here." he said.

"Exactly. Well, the practical.. er- training sessions. As soon as I'll be able to walk without crutches, we'll have to find another place. A larger place than this room."

"So, we'll start next week?"

"No, we can start right away." Ryu said, "There are a few things we have to sort out before. What do you think?"

"Fine with me." Conan replied eagerly.

He wanted to learn some fighting and shooting skills as quick as possible. In this way, he wouldn't be a burden for anyone and... he would be able to protect Ai.

* * *

Another chapter's up. I hope you liked it. I've always had in my mind to write a whole chapter on Shinichi's feelings. I hope you don't mind: it's the first time I write something concerning feelings. Well, I didn't choose a easy subject, did I? I mean, Shinichi of all people..

Please, tell me if it doesn't sound good or if I wrote something wrong.

REVIEW!

Bye!


	16. Training and THE thief

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Detective Conan .

A.N: A few minor changes have been made and mistakes have been corrected.

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR Chapter 15: Training and THE thief.

"Well, I've been thinking about this training sessions yesterday, after you left, and I have a worked out a kind of schedule in my mind but, I have to warn you, Conan: it will be tough. You want to learn in a few months what I have learned in two years. It's not going to be easy." Ryu looked at the little boy that was sitting on the bed opposite his."You'll have to work really hard."

Conan nodded firmly.

"I know what I going against, Ryu." he replied, smiling slightly, " Don't worry, I won't come and complain to you."

"You'd better not." Ryu remarked, grinning, "However, I have divided the training in two parts: one while you're Conan and another when you'll be Shinichi again. In the first part, you'll have to learn the basis, the theory if we can call it like that. I think it would put a big strain on you to do else: I mean, fighting and shooting are not suitable for a seven year olds body.

In the second part, you'll practice all the things you've learned. I think I'll be fully-recovered by then, so we can practice together. Well, this is a general idea. Any questions?"

"No, it's quite easy to understand." Conan said, " So, I'll start from the theory now, right?"

"Yes." Ryu replied, slowly getting up and reaching for his crutches. He walked towards the shelves and took a few books. "This should help you a bit." He tossed them to him.

Conan caught the books and looked at the covers. One was a handbook of a martial art: Jeet kune doh. The other was a self-defence one.

"Those are the books I used back in America." Ryu said, "You understand English, right?"

"Wha..? Yes, yes. I know it well." Conan replied, " I must read this two books and..."

"No, not read. You must _master_ them." Ryu remarked, "There are detailed descriptions of the moves and pictures, too. You have to know everything that's inside those books because you'll have to try the moves on me when we'll be practising. All right?"

Conan nodded slowly: the thought that he had to read the two handbooks didn't scare him as much as the thought that he will be facing Ryu in a fight pretty soon.

"Ok, these regard the fighting." he said, "What about shooting?"

Ryu looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"There aren't books that teach you how to shoot." he said, "Otherwise anyone could buy it and there would be plenty of mad killers around." He sat down on his bed and turned to Conan. "I'll have to teach you personally how to shoot."

Conan looked at him blankly.

"Sure, but we can't do it here. I mean, we must find a good place."

"I've already found one." Ryu said, "There's a rifle-range not far from here. We'll go there as soon as you'll be Shinichi. You know, they don't let kids inside."

"Well, in other words, I'll be doing everything after I take the antidote."

"Not really. There are a few things you have to do from now on. Everyday from now on."

"You mean besides reading these books?"

"Yes, but first I have to check out a thing..." Ryu got up again, " Do you mind locking the door?"

"S.. sure." Conan said, slightly confused. He got up and locked the door. In the meanwhile, Ryu walked to the centre of the room on his crutches. Conan's confusion increased.

"Ryu, what the...?" he began.

"Conan, stand in front of me." Ryu said, cutting him through.

The boy did as he was told to and waited.

"Listen, don't shout and don't worry." Ryu said.

"Wha...?" Conan began but quickly stopped.

He ducked quickly, avoiding one of Ryu's crutches. Ryu was balancing on one them and was using the other, sword-like, to hit Conan. Conan dodged and ducked another couple of blows but he noticed that Ryu's speed was incredible: he hardly avoided one blow, that another grazed him. Avoiding a blow on the head, Conan stumbled over a chair and was about to fall to the ground when Ryu grabbed just in time.

"Ok, I think this should be enough." he said with a slight smile.

Conan looked at him with annoyance and astonishment.

"What was _that_ for?" he asked, sitting down on Agase's bed.

"Sorry, but it was the only way to test you and see what, but most of all where, you have to work on."

"Come again?"

"Well, I've analysed your abilities: you've got good reflexes, a good eye and you're very quick on your feet. I think it's due to your soccer training, right?"

Conan nodded, unable to speak: Ryu had found out all of this only in that minute while he was dodging his blows?

"I went to soccer training when I was a kid, so I've got an idea of what exercises you must have done." the blonde remarked, "You probably have a good physical stamina and good running speed. Well, that lowers the amount of work you have to do."

"Ehm, Ryu, do you mind to explain yourself better?" Conan asked, "What exactly should I do?"

Ryu looked at him and nodded.

"Yes, of course. I think that you should grow stronger in this first part of the training, so that you'll be able to face the second part with more ease... wait, don't interrupt." he said, stopping him, " I know, you're Conan now while you'll be Shinichi later but I don't think it would make any difference. I mean, when did you follow soccer training? Before your shrinking but despite that, you still have all your abilities. I think it should work also in the opposite direction."

"You mean that, if I keep in exercise now.. in this state, the effects on my body will not disappear when I'll be myself again?" Conan asked incredulously.

"Yes... at least, theoretically." Ryu said. "So, I've wrote down a series of exercises you should do everyday from now on. Here take this."

Ryu handed him a small piece of paper and Conan read it quickly.

"Well, running(5) ... exercises for abdomen and back(5x20) ..." he read, "Exercises for strengthening legs and arms(4x20)." He looked up. "Just these?"

"It will be enough." Ryu said, "You can't put to much strain on your body in this state. However, those are the basic exercises. The numbers show how much you have to do: five kilometres of running, five series of twenty for abdomen and back and so on. By the way, remember that you have to do a good warm up before doing those exercises."

"Ok, but you think it will be enough?"

"For a seven year old, yes. You can increase the number of exercises when you turn to yourself again."

Conan folded the paper and put in his pocket.

"Conan?" Ryu asked after a while, "Is it my impression or you want to keep this training secret?"

"Ehm.. yes. I don't want anyone to know about this. You'll keep the secret, right?" Conan asked.

"Sure, don't worry." Ryu replied, "Mind you, I'll _have _to keep the secret: if Rei or Agase find out that I'm teaching you how to fight and shoot instead of resting, I think they'll be able to tie to my bed." Conan laughed. "However, the fact the that we have to do everything secretly, limits our movements...Well, let's see... you can start those books here, this week, since we won't be working on the files. No one will notice... as for the exercises..."

"I can sort that out." Conan pitched in, "I'll find a suitable time."

"All right, that leaves the shooting theory... well, we could start that here, too. At least, the beginning and wait till after the antidote to go on." Ryu said, thoughtfully, "What do you think?"

"Sounds good to me." Conan said, eagerly. "When will we start?"

"Tomorrow. I'll give you a few hints on shooting. You'll have to read that books before we can talk about fighting."

"Ok, then, I'll start the exercises today and I'll start reading the books, too."

"Ok, see you tomorrow, then." Ryu said, smiling, "We'll see if you're in form or if you're out of conditions."

Conan grinned, heading to the door.

"A few exercises won't put me down." he remarked, "Bye."

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Conan got up the next morning, highly regretting his words.

He had stopped at the park last evening as he was going back to the Mouri's, and had done all the exercises Ryu had written on the paper. When he got back home, he was exhausted. Ran got worried, seeing him so tired and thought he was getting ill or something. He had spent half an hour, saying that he was fine, that it had been only a busy day and trying to stop her from checking his temperature.

However, that morning he moaned, getting up: all his muscles were aching. He wobbled to the door. 'Come on, Kudo.' he said to himself, 'You can't give up so soon.'

He straightened up, wincing as his back stretched, and left the room.

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"So, how did your first day of training go?" Ryu asked as Conan came in his room that afternoon, after school.

"Well... if I don't consider that my whole body aches when I only move." Conan replied, "I can say it has gone well."

"Muscles aching, right? Don't worry, it's normal. Your body will get used to the strain in another couple of days."

"Yeah, I know that but the point is hiding it from the others. Ran nearly forced me to bed yesterday when she saw how tired I was. She thought I was ill. I had to act this morning for not letting her notice my conditions and, thanks God, she didn't."

"What about Rei, Ai and Agase? Did they notice that you wince whenever you move?"

"Agase and the Detective Boys didn't but, obviously, Rei and Haibara did. I had to make up an excuse."

"That is..?"

"I said I fell down the stairs, knocked down by Kogoroh." Conan said, slightly embarrassed. Ryu stifled a laugh and winced slightly, putting a hand on his ribs.

"Well, what are we going to do today?" Conan asked, wanting to change subject. "You said you'll give me a few hints of shooting."

"Yes, but before that, where are Rei, Ai and Agase?"

"All downstairs: Agase in the lab, working on something, Haibara's working on the antidote while Rei's reading."

"Good, then lock the door and let's get started."

As Conan closed the door, Ryu opened a drawer of the desk next to his bed and took out his guns: a revolver and an automatic.

"You never used a gun, right?" Ryu asked and Conan shook his head, "But you know how a gun works. I'll only give you a quick description of these two, then. As a summary.

Ok, this is a revolver: it's got six shots and it's quite easy to fire with but there's inconvenient: the loading of the bullets. You have to carry the bullets loose with you and you have to be very quick when you load them, otherwise... well, you know what could happen. This kind of problems are inexistent for the automatic. It has twelve shots and you only have to carry spare chargers that are very easy to change. I can say that the only inconvenient is the shock wave. You see, this is the kind of gun where you put your finger on the trigger and it goes on shooting until you take it of again. If you're not careful, you'll find yourself thrown back by the shock wave. So, that's the general idea.. Pretty simple, no?"

Conan nodded.

Ryu picked the automatic and took of the charger. He then tossed the gun to Conan.

"Well, let's see how you hold a gun." he said.

"Why? There are different ways to hold one?" Conan asked, catching the weapon with his hands.

"Sure. Many ways. You can hold it with one or both hands: you know, it's important because it's the best way to see if the gun's well-balanced when you shoot and it also shows how much self-confidence you have when you fire. Then there are different positions, you can hold a gun: straight, slightly bended to a side... It depends on the way you take aim."

Ryu was doing every move he said with the revolver and Conan looked at him very carefully.

"How do you hold a gun?" he asked.

"In this way." Ryu replied. He took the gun in his hand, totally bended at the right. " I find it more comfortable this way: it's easier to take aim if the gun's cane parallel to my arm. Now, let's see, you."

Conan took the gun in his hands and stood up. He held the gun tightly with both hands and aimed at the window.

"I think... this is my way." he said to Ryu.

"Well, it's nearly all right.." Ryu remarked. He took one of his crutches and used it to lower Conan's arms a bit. "You have to keep your arms perpendicular to your shoulders or the shot will go above or below your target and... you should loose your grip a bit, yeah like that.. and... don't be so stiff on your legs: be supple." Ryu looked at him again and nodded. "Yes, that should do: you've found your position. Too bad we can't try it soon but.. never mind. Don't forget all these things, ok?"

"No, I won't." Conan replied, giving the gun back to him, "Don't worry. I don't want to forget."

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Two weeks later, Conan, Ai, Ryu and Rei were busy working again.

The files regarding the Organisation were nearly all worked out and classified in different sections in their computers and laptops and, as though it wasn't enough, they all had other works to do, too. Ai was busy with the final testing of the antidote, Ryu was working on the radar for his devices and Rei was checking out all the material regarding the Organisation and working on the very last files. Conan helped here and there when he was down at Agase's house but he had his own work, too.

He had to find Kid.

They had found a few files regarding him and it seemed that he was not an ally but another victim of the Black Organisation. However, since they weren't totally sure about this, they had to find some clues and this was Conan's job: he was the only one that had actually met or talked to Kid and, since he lived at the Mouri's detective agency, he had more chances than the others to find him. As this wasn't enough, he also had to go on with his training. Ryu helped him too since he was feeling lots better: the wound hadn't healed perfectly yet, but the ribs' ache had gone and he hardly used the crutches to walk.

The boys spent a lot of time in Ryu's room, apparently to work on the radar: truly it was only an excuse... well, in part. Ryu worked on the radar while Conan finished to read the books Ryu had given him and even, tried out a few moves. Ryu corrected him, if necessary.

The girls didn't notice this situation at the beginning: the first week, Ryu had been forced by Agase to rest in his room without working; so, when Conan said that he went upstairs to see how Ryu was doing, they didn't say anything. They thought he only wanted to keep him company and they also said that it didn't matter if he didn't help them.

But the second week, Rei and Ai were becoming a bit suspicious: the boys closed themselves in Ryu's room for about an hour every afternoon. When they came out to help them, later, they would only say that they had been working on the radar.

"Shinichi, Ryu, you're not hiding something, are you?" Rei asked them once.

"Wha..? No.. _no_, Rei." Conan answered quickly.

"Really, Rei, we're only working on my radar." Ryu added, smiling.

She stared at both the boys, making them feel slightly uncomfortable. Fortunately, Agase had called.

"Hey, can someone come and give me a hand?"

"I'm coming." Ryu and Conan said together and left the lab. Rei looked at them leave and then, turned to Ai, who was working next to her and had heard every word.

"Do you have the feeling that they are lying or hiding something?" she asked, turning her laptop back on.

"Yes. I wonder what, though." she replied.

Rei just shrugged and went on with her work.

That evening, Ryu talked to Conan before he left.

"Listen, are you sure you want to keep your training secret?" he asked.

"Wha..? _Yes_. Of course." Conan replied, "Why do you ask?"

"It's just that.. I don't like lying to the girls.. and, by the way, they could help you, too. I mean, Rei and Ai have had a good training: one in FBI and the other in the Organisation."

"Ehm.. no... I prefer not." Conan replied, slightly embarrassed.

Ryu understood right away.

"Come on, Ai will never understand that you're doing all this for her." he stated with a smile.

Conan turned bright red.

"Wha..?" he stammered, "How... you... know.. ?"

"It was pretty obvious, you know? The way you look at her and everything. I've noticed it even more in these last weeks."

Conan looked at him.

"Please, don't tell her." he said.

Ryu smiled and nodded.

"Don't worry. I won't say a word about your training or about.. your feelings." he said, grinning at the other boy's red face.

Conan nodded gratefully.

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'_How_ do the others already know my feelings when _I_ figured them out only a few weeks ago? After a night's thinking, in addition?' he thought as he was going back to the Mouri's, after his hour of exercise at the park. He was still mulling over this thoughts when he opened the door.

"I'm back, Ran-neechan!" he called.

Ran rushed towards him, fully-dressed and with her coat on.

"Conan-kun, you're finally back." she said, "Listen, we have to go with Dad: Inspector Megure has just called and he needs his help."

Conan groaned inwardly. He was exhausted and the last thing he needed was to work on a case that would only give merits to Kogoroh.

"What about dinner?" he asked, looking at the empty table.

"Don't worry: Dad said he'll solve the case quickly and then take us out for dinner." Ran said, smiling at him.

'Uhm, a good dinner... maybe I should go.' Conan thought as his stomach rumbled, 'No, wait... knowing Kogoroh, he'll only buy rice with condiments... Better stay home: I'll heat one of that tin soups that are in the cupboard and then go to sleep.'

"But, Ran-neechan, I'm very tired." he began to say, in his "childish" voice, rubbing his eyes slightly, "Maybe, I should stay ho..."

But Ran wasn't listening to him: Kogoroh had just marched in the room, holding a small piece of paper and shouting.

"WHAT NONSENSE IS THIS!" he yelled, "WHY SHOULD GREAT DETECTIVE MOURI WASTE HIS TIME WITH THESE RIDDLES!"

"Dad, calm down." Ran said, approaching him. "You'll surely figure out what Kaitou Kid's message means."

Conan quickly turned his head to them as he heard "Kid".

"Ran-neechan, Kid's involved in the case you were talking about?

"Yes, he sent this message to the police station. Look." she said, taking the note from Kogoroh's hand and showing it to Conan.

The little boy took the small, white card. The message was written in silver letters.

_Among the shining things even the stars,_

_among the precious things even life._

_When the clock keeps the tenth word,_

_from the highest of towers_

_I come to claim my prey._

_The last wizard of the century._

_Phantom thief Kid_.

Conan read it again, memorizing the words.

"Hey, brat, that's my only clue. Give it back." Kogoroh said, taking the card out of his hands. "Why does he have to come, anyway?" he asked, turning to Ran.

"Come on, Dad. We can't leave him alone at home." she retorted.

"Yes, I don't want to stay home alone." Conan pitched in, using his best "childish" voice, "And I also want to see Mouri-oujisan solve another case."

'Oh God, look what I have to say to go with them.' he thought, in the meanwhile, 'I really hope Kid's there..'

Kogoroh looked at the boy and gave a boastful laugh.

"Yes, why not?" he said, "You'll see detective Mouri solve another case brilliantly. I'll catch Kid."

Conan had a smile plastered on his face but inside, he was fighting hard not to laugh out.

_'You_? Catch Kid?' he thought, 'Yeah, in your dreams...'

The three left the agency shortly after and headed to the jeweller's shop where the message had been found.

Inspector Megure greeted Kogoroh and took him inside while Ran and Conan had to wait out.

' Let's see.. it's all in the message.' Conan thought, 'If I understand what it means, I'll also manage to foresee Kid's moves. Well, Among the shining things even the stars, among the precious things even life. When the clock keeps the tenth word, from the highest of towers, I come to claim my prey.

What could it mean? He surely wants to steal one of the jewels inside this shop, but which one? There are hundreds in there... And he could be disguised. He could take advantage of a moment of distraction to take the stone and disappear...

Let's see, the rest of the message. When the clock keeps the tenth word... At ten o'clock! What's the time now?' He quickly looked at his watch: nine thirty. 'Damn it, only half an hour. From the highest of towers... a high building... of course!' Conan looked around and noticed a high office building, opposite the jeweller's shop. It had a large rooftop, too. 'Well, that's the spot: I think he'll go away from there. Well, I figured out everything... except the most important thing: what Kid wants to steal. The police won't let me in and I don't know what kind of precious stones are in this shop... what can I do? I can't waste this opportunity to face Kid.'

Then, something clicked in his mind: someone else could give him the information he needed.

"Ran-neechan, I'm thirsty. I'll go and get me a drink in the vending machine over there." he said, pointing to the street, next to where they were. "Do you want something?"

"No, thanks, Conan-kun." she replied, "But come here quickly: it's dark and I don't want you to hang around alone."

"Yes." he said, and sped away.

As soon as he was out of sight, Conan took out his earring phone and hid behind a post.

'I hope they'll help me.' he thought, dialling the number as fast as he could.

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Rei, Ryu and Ai were all working in the lab when Agase hurried in.

"Shinichi-kun's on the phone." he said, "He wants to talk to you: it seems urgent."

The three looked at each other and rushed to the living room. Ryu took the phone.

"Hello? Conan, what's wrong?" he asked, slightly concerned but he soon changed tone and expression when he heard what the other said. "What? When? Ok... but what should _we_ do? Uhm, uhm... all right, hang on."

Ryu turned to Rei.

"Pen and paper... " he mouthed, "Write down."

She nodded and went to get them. Ai, in the meanwhile, was wondering what was going on.

Rei appeared a few moments later with a notebook and a pen and gave them to Ryu.

"Conan? Go ahead." He began to write down what Conan was saying on the phone. "All right. I've wrote down everything. By the way, how much time do we have? _What? _Ok, we'll hurry up. Hear you in ten minutes, then. Bye."

Ryu hung up and turned to Rei and Ai.

"We have some work to do." he said, "And we don't have much time."

"What's going on?" Ai asked.

"Phantom thief Kid has showed up." he said quickly, "It seems that he wants to steal something from a jeweller's shop. Conan's already there with the Mouri's."

"Ok, but why did he call us?" Rei asked.

"Kid has sent the jeweller and the police a message: this message." He handed the notebook to the girls and as they read it, he continued. "Conan has figured out nearly all of it: the theft will happen at ten o'clock and he also has an idea from where Kid will escape. The point is that he doesn't know _what_ Kid wants to steal: the police has blocked all the entrances and he can't go in the shop to see if there's anything special that attracts Kid's attention."

Rei looked up.

"I think I understand: he want us to find out what precious stones are in that shop." she said, "It should be easy to get the list of the jewels, doing a research on internet."

"All right, but we don't have time: the theft's at ten o'clock and it's already nine forty." Ryu remarked.

"Ok, I'll do that." Rei said, going to the lab, "I'll try to be fast."

"Ai, we'll have to figure out what the first lines of the message mean." Ryu said, turning to her, "Conan's working on them, too: he thinks that they hide a clue about the jewel."

"All right. Let's see, then." she replied.

_Among the shining things even the stars,_

_among the precious things even life._

Ryu and Ai worked on these two lines but without success: they had only a few hints.

"Well... shining and precious: it's sure that there referred to the jewel. But the rest..." Ryu said.

"I think we should work on... stars and life." Ai said, "It could be the name of the stone."

"Yeah, could be. Let's see when Rei brings the list... there goes the phone: it must be Conan."

He got up and took the phone.

"Hello? No, not yet: Rei's still working on it. By the way, did you figure out the message? Uhm, uhm, Ai thought the same, too. No, we don't... hang on, Rei's coming. Wait on line, ok?"

Ryu put the receiver on the table and turned to her.

"You got the list?" he asked.

"Yes, I got all the names." she said, showing him a few sheets of paper.

"We have to check if there's any stone that has "stars" or "life" in it's name." he said.

Ai, Ryu and Rei began to scan the list with their eyes to see if there was a stone with the characteristics they were looking for.

"Nothing in this paper." Ryu said, after a while.

"Neither in this one." Ai said and she turned to her side, "What about you, Rei?"

Rei didn't answer: she was still reading her sheet of paper. Suddenly, she looked up.

"Ehm, my French isn't very good but... _étoile_ means star, right?"

"Yes, it means star." Ryu answered, "What did you find?"

He approached her and looked at the list.

"Look here, the seventh name on the third column." Rei said, pointing at the paper, "_Etoile de vie"_

"Star of life." Ryu translated, "It must be that. I'll tell Conan."

He picked the receiver.

"Hello? Yes, the stone's name is _Etoile the vie". _Kid's probably after that. Listen, we're not sure if he's really not involved with the Organisation, so be careful. Just talk to him... or at least, try to talk to him. Ok, then... Bye."

He hung up and turned around.

"We'll see what has happened tomorrow." he said.

"I hope he'll make it." Rei remarked, "He has only got ten minutes."

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As soon as he received the information from the others, Conan dashed back to the jeweller's shop and informed Inspector Megure (Kogoroh wouldn't have bothered at his words). He told him the real meaning of the message and that the theft would have taken place at ten o'clock.

Inspector Megure put policemen on guard at every entrance and door sure that it should stop 1412. Conan didn't think so: Kid was a master in disguise and was pretty good with his magical tricks, too but Megure said that he knew what he was doing, so arguing was useless...

At ten o'clock sharp, everyone was ready inside and outside the jeweller's: they were all waiting for Kid. Suddenly, a white smoke screen erupted from the shop, enabling all the people inside to move or see. When the smoke disappeared, they jewel "Etoile de vie" was gone and the policemen in guard in front of it's location wasn't there anymore. The policeman was Kid.

"Find him, quick!" Inspector Megure shouted to his men. "He still must be around."

Ran was waiting outside with her father.

"Damn Kid." Kogoroh muttered, "He was hiding among us. Well, we can't do anything now: the police has to find him. "We can go home."

Ran nodded and turned around.

"Conan-kun, we have to... Conan-kun?" she called, looking around, "Conan-kun, where are you?"

The little boy was not there anymore.

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"I made it also this time."

A young man was standing on the edge of the roof.

He was wearing a silvery-white suit with a white cloak and a white top hat. A single lens covered his left eye. He was smiling slightly to himself as he saw the mayhem he had caused down: people, policemen, were running here and there on the street.

He put his hand in his right pocket, drawing out something that he held up high, as though wanting to get a good look of it.

The bright full moon's light flooded the rooftop, making the object in the man's hand sparkle. He watched it carefully, waiting something that didn't seem to come. He sighed sadly.

"This is not the right one." he said, softly. Then, he looked down at the street, "Maybe, I should give it back. They seem to want it back very soon."

A small smile flickered on his face.

_"Enjoying yourself, Kid?"_

The young man turned around at the sound of the voice: he wasn't scared or worried. On the contrary, the smile on his face widened.

"Hey, Meitantei-san." he said to the little boy standing a few feet away from him, "You're here, too."

"Don't play with me, 1412. You knew I was here from the beginning."

Kid smirked.

"Oh well, it seems that you know me well." he remarked, "By the way, how come you didn't stop me as usual? You know it's boring to win a challenge without a fight."

Conan smirked this time.

"Really? Maybe next time." he said, "I have to talk to you, Kid."

"You? Talk with me?" Kid asked, amused, "Since when detectives and thieves have something to talk about?"

"Well, they could if they have a common objective." Conan remarked.

Kid looked at him with an eyebrow raised and Conan noticed a glint of alarm in his eyes.

'Well, it's now or never.' he thought.

"I came here to ask you if you know anything about a criminal group called Black Organisation." he said and stared at the other.

Kid looked at him and shook his head.

"Sorry, meitantei-san." he replied, "I never heard of them."

"Are you telling the truth?" Conan asked suspiciously.

"Why should I lie?" 1412 retorted.

"All right, then tell me why do they want you dead?"

This time Kid didn't answer: he just looked at the little boy.

"Listen, I can't stay here for long." he said, after a while, " The police will notice that I'm here, sooner or later."

"You can go after you answered my questions." Conan said coolly.

"Ok, but you tell me this first." Kid said, "Why do _you_ want to know?"

Conan thought this over: he didn't know if Kid was an ally or an enemy. If he told him the truth, Ryu, Rei and Ai could be in danger because of his carelessness.

But, maybe, if he only exposed himself...

"All right. You know who I am, right?" he asked seriously.

"Conan Edogawa, the little kid that lives with Detective Mouri and Ran-san." the other replied with a smile.

"I mean.. who I _really_ am."

"Oh, that... well, you're Shinichi Kudo."

"Did you ever tell anyone?"

"No, I didn't: I gave you my word, remember? I might be a thief but I have my sense of honour."

"Good. However, the Black Organisation is responsible for my actual state: they are the ones that shrank me."

Kid looked amused.

"And here I thought it was just a clever disguise." he remarked.

"Look that it's not a game." Conan retorted with annoyance, "They don't know that I've become a kid. They think I'm dead. If they found out the truth, they'll come to finish me."

The other boy's eyes widened slightly.

"I see. That's why you don't want anyone to know who you are." he said, "And why you asked me not to say a word about you when we met on the cruise ship."

FLASHBACK

"Well, Meitantei-san, you've found me again." 1412 said.

"Where is Ran?" Conan asked, "Why do you always disguise as her?"

"Don't worry. I didn't touch Ran-san. She's there asleep." he replied, pointing to a spot a few feet away from where they were.

Conan rushed to her and shook her slightly.

"Ran, Ran wake up." he said, "It's me."

The girl wasn't totally conscious: her eyes were blurry and she felt drowsy. However, she realised that someone was calling her but she mistook the voice.

"Shi... Shinichi?" she asked feebly.

"Yes, it's me." Conan answered, without realising what he was saying. Fortunately, Ran fell asleep and didn't hear his words.

Kid did, though.

"Shinichi?" he said, "Don't tell me you're the famous Shinichi Kudo?"

Conan turned around very slowly.

"Don't tell anyone, Kid." he said. "Swear that you won't say this to anyone. No one must know."

Kid looked at him and nodded.

"Don't worry, meitantei-san. I won't tell anyone if it's so important for you. I don't want you to get mad with me otherwise who will I challenge next time." he said, a grin spreading on his face.

Conan just smirked back.

END FLASHBACK

"So, the people that shrank you, would kill you if they found out you're still alive. Kid remarked.

"Exactly." Conan said, "But what I want to know is why they want _you_."

"I only know that someone wants me: I don't know who they are."

"Why are they so keen to kill you?"

"That's personal, meitantei-san. I can't tell you." Kid said with a sad glint in his eyes, "Well, if you're finished, I'll go..."

Conan looked at him: he seemed sincere. Ryu's words came to his mind.

'If you're sure that he's not an enemy, then tell him the truth: about the files about him and about us. He could help us, too... All right, then. Here I go.'

Conan looked up at Kid.

"Kid, the phantom thief surfaced for the first time 18 years ago in Paris, and for 10 years since then he has been eluding the police and capture." he said in a clear, cool voice, "However, he disappeared for unknown reasons, and many thought he had died." Kid slowly turned around and looked at him.

"Now, Phantom thief Kid has come back but he's not the same one of eight years ago. That Kid was Toichi Kuroba, the famous magician. He had been murdered by the Black Organisation when interfering in their plans. I... we think that the actual Kid has taken his place to finish his work and probably to find his murderers. We have done a few researches and it seems that Toichi Kuroba had a son: that son took up the role of the mysterious thief." Conan looked at Kid straight in the eyes.

"Am I right, _Kaito Kuroba_?" he asked.

Kid didn't move: he just stared at the little boy with an mingled expression of shock and surprise.

"How.. do you know all of that?" he asked finally.

"We have done a few researches." Conan answered simply.

"_We_?"

"The Organisation doesn't want only us dead. I have three friends that are in our same condition."

"And how did they find...?" Kid began but Conan cut across him.

"Kid, that's why I'm here now." he said, seriously, "It seems that we're all involved with the Organisation: so, I'm here to make you an offer. My friends and I are working to bring the Organisation down and send all its members to jail. We have material and information to weaken it but not the definite clue to bring it down."

"What do you want from me?" Kid asked.

"You know things that we don't know and we know things that you don't know." Conan replied, " If we join forces, we might be able to get the final information we need."

"You are asking me to work with you?" Kid asked, "On the same side?"

"Yes. What's your reply?"

"I.. have to think about it." 1412 answered, "By the way, are these friends of yours trustworthy?"

Conan grinned.

"I'd trust them with my life." he said.

Kid looked at him and smiled. He pulled a rope in his suit and a hang- glider appeared, like magic, on his back. Before stepping down from the roof, Kid turned to Conan.

"I'll show up, Meitantei-san. It might not be so bad to help you and your friends." he said, smiling.

"You know where to find me, Kid." Conan said with a smile.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Kid put a hand in his pocket, drawing out something. He tossed it to Conan, "Here, give it back."

Conan caught it and held it to the light to inspect it.

It was tonight's theft: the jewel "_Etoile de vie"._

"See you soon... Kudo."

"See you soon... Kuroba."

Kid jumped from the rooftop and flew away on his hang-glider.

Conan smiled to himself and looked at the jewel in his hand. He shook his head and went back down to the street. Ran was probably looking for him.

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The next afternoon, Conan informed the others of his talk with Kid.

"So, he said he'll show up, right?" Ryu asked.

"Yes, that's what he said." Conan replied.

"We only have to wait, then." Ai added.

They were all in the lab, doing their own works. While Conan, Ai and Ryu were talking, Rei was busy typing something on her laptop. Suddenly, she got up and shut the laptop. The other three jumped.

"Rei? Something wrong?" Ryu asked.

"Were we disturbing you with our talking?" Conan asked, "I thought you were listening too."

"Yes, I was listening." Rei replied, approaching them, "And no, you weren't disturbing me. There's a good news."

"What?" they all asked.

Rei smiled.

"All the files have been worked out. " she replied.

Ryu got up.

"We can send them to Matt, then." he said, "He'll start to stop the Organisation's activities from America."

"Yes, we can officially say that part three of the plan is going to start soon" Rei added.

Conan, Ai, Ryu and Rei looked at each: the final step of the plan was going to start.

The Organisation's days were counted.

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Another chapter's up! I hope you liked it. You know, at the beginning I didn't have in mind to put Kid in the story: I don't know much about him and I didn't want to make mistakes (All the fans of Kaitou Kid would have killed me!), but then, I thought that I could give it a try. I'm kind of thinking to put all the characters I know in this story and I didn't want to skip Kid. So, if there are any mistakes, please tell me and I'll correct them.

REVIEW!

Bye!


	17. Decisions

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Detective Conan .

A.N: A few changes have been made and all, I hope, the mistakes have been corrected.

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR Chapter 16: Decisions.

That same day, Ryu suggested that they had to call Matt.

"Well, the files have been all worked out and, if I understood well, he told you to call him as soon as you found me, right Rei?" he asked turning to the girl.

"Yes, that was our plan." Rei said, nodding, "Mind you, Matt must be really worried: I left America nearly three months ago and I never called him."

"Why don't you call him now, then?"

Rei, Ryu, Conan and Ai turned around and saw Agase at the lab's door. He smiled and walked in.

"I heard what you said." he said, "Anyway, why don't you call your friend now? It's not a problem for me: you can use the phone anytime you want."

Ryu and Rei looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

"Yes, we'll call him now." Ryu said, "Thanks Professor."

Agase just waved his hand.

"Oh come on, it's nothing." he said and went back to the kitchen.

Rei and Ryu got up and headed to the living room; just then, they noticed that Conan and Ai were still sitting in the lab. They both turned around and stared at them.

"_Well_?" they asked.

"Well, what?" Conan said, looking at them.

"Aren't you two coming with us?" Rei asked.

"You're going to talk with your friend." Ai said, "Why should we come?"

"Because you're involved with the Organisation as much as we are." Ryu said, "Come on, you two are in the team, too."

Conan and Ai looked at each other and then got up, nodding.

They all went to the living room and: Conan, Ai and Ryu sat down on the couch while Rei, took the telephone, put it on the living room's small table, and sat on one of the armchairs.

"Where should I call him?" Rei asked, turning to the blonde boy.

Ryu thought this over.

"Well, not at his office at the FBI headquarters: the phone could be bugged." Ryu said, "We don't know if the double-crosser has been caught... Try at his mobile: that's where I called him when I was still infiltrated at the Organisation."

Rei dialled a number and waited.

"It's ringing." she said, putting the receiver on the table. She looked at the telephone and pressed a button."I turned the speaker phone." she explained, noticing the others puzzled looks, "In this way, we can all hear what Matt says and we won't waste time, taking in turns to talk to him."

"Good idea." Ryu remarked and Rei smiled slightly.

The sound of the phone ringing echoed in the room for a while, then someone answered on the other side.

_"Hello?"_ a male voice said in English. A very annoyed voice, to be exact. _"Whoever it is, I hope you have a really damn good reason to call at this time."_

Ryu grinned, hearing his friend's voice.

'Matt hasn't changed a bit.' he thought.

Rei seemed to think the same. She smiled and cleared her voice.

"Hello, Christie speaking." she said in English, too.

_"Christie? Who the hel...? **What? **Wait a minute."_

"Hey, Ryu, is Christie Rei's code name or something?" Conan whispered and Ai turned to hear the answer too.

"Yes, when we started our plan, MYSTERY, we also decided to choose ourselves a code name: it was a way to recognize us." Ryu explained them in a low voice, "Christie is Rei's code name; Ellery's mine and Ford is Matt's one."

There was a moment of silence in which they only heard a soft rustling, as though someone was rummaging in a drawer, looking for something. Then, they heard a click, a buzzing sound and then it was all normal again.

_"Ok, I've done everything."_ Matt said, in Japanese this time, _"In case someone was listening, I've put a device to prevent it. However, Christie, it's really you?"_

"Do you know anyone with that name?" Rei asked, slightly amused, "By the way, you didn't seem to recognize me before, did you?"

_"I would like to see if **you** would recognize someone on the phone if you wake up with a start at half past three in the morning."_ he retorted, _"I'm still a bit dazed."_

"Well, switch on your brain, then. I've found him."

_"**What?** When? Is he ok?"_

"Ask him yourself."

_"You mean he's there with you?"_

Rei turned to Ryu.

"Your turn." she mouthed and he grinned.

"Hi, Ford, how you're doing?" he said and reached for the receiver, switching off the speaker phone.

"You'll understand soon." he whispered at the others quizzical looks.

There was a moment of silence again.

"Ehm, Ford? You're still there?" Ryu asked uncertainly, taking the receiver close to his ear. He hastily took it away a few seconds later. The others could clearly hear Matt's voice.

_"YOU ASK HOW AM I DOING?"_ he shouted, _"WHAT THE HELL HAVE **YOU **DONE FOR NEARLY SIX MONTHS? YOU STUPID FOOL, YOU DISAPPEARED WITHOUT A WORD!"_

"Well, I didn't have a great choice, did I?" Ryu retorted but he quickly regretted it: Matt's shouts seemed to double. Ryu muttered something but it didn't do much. He sighed and put the receiver back on the table. Matt was shouting by himself now.

"I don't have the strength to hear Matt's lectures." he said. He turned around and frowned, slightly annoyed, "Oh, you three find it funny, do you?"

Actually, Conan and Ai looked very amused and Rei seemed to be stifling a laugh.

"You should try to calm him down." Rei said, smiling slightly, "He's only very worried for you. And his parents, too."

Ryu looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"You think he'll let me talk?" he asked, pointing to the phone receiver where Matt's voice was still clearly audible. "I know him: he'll calm down in a while, so let him shout till then." He smirked slightly. "If I were you, Rei, I'd be worried too. Matt told you to call him as soon as we met again. How are we going to explain two months delay?"

"We'll tell him about the files." she replied simply, "That should calm him down instantly."

"Hey, the shouts have stopped." Conan said.

Ryu picked the receiver.

"Ford? Have you calmed down?" he asked, "All right, wait a minute.." He leaned forward and turned on the speaker shone. "Ok, go on."

_"Calmed down? Wait till I see you..."_ Matt said, in a normal tone, _"Then, I can say that I've really calmed down... However, when did you two meet?"_

"We met nearly two months ago." Rei said.

_"TWO MONTHS AGO?"_ Matt said, loudly, _"Why didn't you call?"_

"We decided to work out the material I had taken, Ford." Ryu replied, "We thought that we could call you after."

_"Uhm, so you mean that you have worked out all the material? How did you manage to do it? There were loads of things to do."_

"There are two friends that have been helping us." Rei said, eyeing Conan and Ai.

_"Friends? Who are they?"_

"Can't tell you now, however, they're trustworthy." Ryu replied, "And they're here too."

Conan and Ai, expecting another angry outburst from Matt for letting strangers hear their conversation, were slightly taken aback when he didn't retort.

_"Good." _he said,_ "The more trustworthy allies we have the better it will be."_

"Ford, how are things going down at your place?" Rei asked.

Matt sighed heavily.

_"You don't know what's going on here, do you?"_ he asked.

"No, we've been cut out for months." Ryu said with a bit of concern, "What's going on in America? Bad news?"

_"Well, I don't know if I can call it bad news."_ Matt said, _"I'd say it's strange. There have been a series of weird disappearances and strange murders."_

"Who are the victims?" Conan asked quickly.

_"The ones that have disappeared are scientists while the ones the ones that have been killed were police officers and criminals."_ Matt replied, _"We still don't know who's behind this although I have a certain idea... by the way, who are **you**? You sound like a kid."_

"Ehm... it's a bit hard to explain." Ryu said, "However, he's one of our friends."

_"What?"_ Matt asked, sounding confused, _"Oh, all right, you'll explain me later... _

_Listen, there's a thing you two must know immediately : since your disappearance, the high inspectors have decided to carry out an inquiry here in our headquarters."_

"Well, we had foreseen that this would happen, Ford." Rei remarked, "I mean, one agent that's considered a traitor and another that has suicided both worked together.. It was natural."

_"Yes, I know that." _Matt said, _"The point is that they are suspecting me: I think it's due to the fact that I've known you both for a couple of years or maybe because we have been working together... I have no idea, but I'm suspected and... they told me to leave."_

"_What?_" Ryu and Rei said together.

_"Yes, they asked me to take a… period of rest. They said that it would last a month or more but I've got the idea that this is their way to get rid of me for a while. I think they suspect that I'm a double-crosser or something.. or that I'm in collusion with you R... Ellery."_

"What about your father?" Ryu asked, "Is he in trouble, too?"

_"No. Thanks God, no." _Matt replied, _"He has been working for them for a lot years and they know his loyalty. They only suspect me and it's good thing: at least, there's still someone at the headquarters that can tell us what's going on there."_

"Ford, I'm sorry." Rei said, "I didn't think you'd get so much in trouble because of us."

"Yes, I'm sorry too." Ryu said, "If I knew this would have happened.."

But Matt cut across his words.

_"Listen, you two, what are you apologizing for? We have decided to carry out this plan together, remember? We knew that there would have been risks. Many risks. Till now, you two have risked the most and you're still in danger. So, you really think that I care going through an inquiry or for being suspended from work for a while? Come on, you should know me better. If there's a way to keep attention of you two, then I'll go through all the inquiries they'll carry out, otherwise, what am I here for?"_ Matt's tone was firm.

Ryu and Rei couldn't answer. Conan and Ai looked at them and smiled slightly: Matt had said the right things.

_"However.."_ Matt continued, _"I think we should meet each other soon: talking on the phone's not safe. We have to work on the final part of MYSTERY and we have to discuss of many things. Not to mention that I've got to see all the material you've worked out."_

"Yes, I think we should meet soon, too." Rei agreed, "But are you sure that no one's following you or that you're controlled?"

_"No. I'm sure of that: no one's tailing me. I think it's because Dad's an authority, here. A sign of respect towards him since I'm his son."_

Ryu, that had been lost in his thoughts while Rei and Matt were talking, suddenly looked up.

"Ford, how long does your suspension last?" he asked.

_"Well, they told me to come back to work in about two weeks."_ he replied, "_Why do you ask? Should I come there in this period?"_

"Ford, wait a minute on line, will you?" Ryu said instead and switched off the speaker phone. HE turned to Ai. "Ai, when will the antidote for the APTX be ready, more or less?"

The girl was slightly taken aback from his question.

"Let's see... I think three weeks." she said, a bit puzzled, "I still have to do all the final testing: they are the last and most important tests I've got to do. Why do you ask?"

But Ryu didn't answer: he was thinking.

'Three weeks? Damn, it takes too much.' he thought, 'But what if..?'

"Listen, if I helped you with the tests and if Rei helped too, do you think the antidote could be ready in two weeks?" he asked.

Ai thought this over.

"Well, yes but... do you two know how to do these testing?" she asked, "They're not simple and we can't do mistakes: we have to be very careful."

"I know a few things about chemistry and you could tell me what to do." Ryu said, "You will help too, right Rei?"

"Yes, of course." she replied, "I've got some knowledge of chemistry too and I also know how to do these testing: they're only a particular kind of simulations on computer."

"So, what do you think, Ai?" Ryu asked, turning to her again.

"It's all right for me." she said, nodding, "If you know what to do, then I accept your help."

"Ryu, what wild plan do you have in your mind now?" Conan asked, "When you start asking questions in this way, it means that you've got a plan or something in your mind."

Ryu grinned.

"All right, I'll explain very shortly: Matt has to come here because we have to discuss about the last part of our plan and we also have to give him all the material we have worked out." he said, "When he comes here, you two have to be in your original form: we don't have an exact idea of what will happen from now on and we need your help, too. The point is, if Shinichi and Shiho come back, what will happen to Conan and Ai?"

"They'll disappear, what a question." Conan remarked.

"Exactly. Well, we can't let them disappear in thin air: it would be suspicious and someone of the Organisation could still be around. We have to make up a story: Conan will be leaving for America because his parents have found a way to work abroad without leaving him behind and Ai will go with him because there's a relative of hers that lives close to the Edogawas and she'll be living there."

"Ok, the story makes sense but what does your friend Matt got to do with this?" Ai asked.

"Well, we could involve him in this play along with Conan's mother."

"_What?_" Conan and Ai said together.

"Of course!" Rei said, finally understanding Ryu's idea, "Yukiko-san could come here, pretending to be Fumiyo Edogawa while Matt could come, pretending to be Ai's relative. In this way, no one could suspect anything."

"Exactly." Ryu said, with a smile, "What do you think?"

"Wow, you thought all of this now?" Conan asked, "It's a great idea."

"Yes, I agree, too." Ai said.

"All right, then." Ryu said and turned on the speaker phone again.

"Ford, are you there?" he asked.

_"Of course, I am."_ Matt replied, _"Well, what should I do?"_

"Listen, you should come here in about two weeks. Is it all right for you?"

_"Ok, tell me where, though."_

"Well, I don't think it's safe to tell you everything on the phone. Listen, you still have your old e-mail address, don't you?"

_"Yes, but I don't think it's a safe of communication either."_

"You forgot who we have here, Ford." Ryu said, smiling at Rei.

"Don't worry, Ford, I'll find a way to send you e-mails so that no one can read them except you." Rei remarked.

_"Well, all right, then."_ Matt said.

"We'll also write you what has happened in the last months, so you'll get a general idea of the situation." Ryu added.

"_All right, then. It's better if we stop here. You'll tell me what to do through the e-mails, so we'll probably not talk on the phone anymore. Well, see you soon guys."_

"Bye Ford, see you soon." Rei said.

"Yes, see you in two weeks, Ford." Ryu said.

_"Ok, bye then... hey, wait, bye also to the other two that are with you... what are their names, anyway?"_ Matt asked.

"Ehm... " Ryu said, turning to Conan and Ai. The two kids just looked at each and nodded, smiling slightly.

"Hello Ford, my name's Conan." he said.

"Hello, my name is Ai." she said.

_"Conan and Ai? I see, you have code names, too. However, I hope to meet you two soon, too. Well.. Bye, then."_ Matt said.

"Bye," the four said together.

Rei put the receiver back on the phone.

"Well, we have other work to do now." she said, looking at the others.

"Yes and we should start right away." Ai said, getting up.

Ryu and Rei got up, too. Conan didn't: he seemed to be lost in his thoughts. He had just realised a few things: the antidote would be ready in only two weeks and this meant that he would be himself again. But, on the other, it also meant that Conan had to leave.

'Ran... how will she take the news?' he thought, 'I also have to tell her the truth about my feelings...'

He looked up all of a sudden, when he felt a soft tap on his shoulder: Ai was standing in front of him, Ryu was standing at the door while Rei was by the phone.

"Kudo-kun, are you all right?" Ai asked.

"What? Yes, I'm fine." he replied, "Really, I'm fine, I was just wondering... that's all."

"What about, Shinichi?" Rei asked, approaching him.

"Well, about a few things I have to sort out before Conan disappears." he said. He looked at Ai. "Haibara? Didn't you say that you had another temporary antidote pill?"

"Yes, it's the last one." she replied, a bit confused, "Why do you ask, anyway?"

"Could you give it to me?"

Ryu walked towards him.

"What do you want to do in your true form?" he asked curiously.

"Give high school's final exams." Conan replied.

Ryu, Rei and Ai stared at him.

"Come again?" they said.

Conan smiled mischievously.

"Well, I didn't tell it to anyone but I've been studying in these last weeks and I decided to give the final exam privately." he said.

"How come you got this idea, Shinichi?" Rei asked.

"I just wanted to do it." he replied, shrugging, "You three have had plenty of work to do in these last weeks while I didn't do much, besides helping you here and there. I'll give the exams and then I'll see what I want to do."

The others smiled slightly: it was typical of him. He was never satisfied with himself: even though he had helped them all and his help had been considerable, he still felt that he hadn't done enough. Maybe, after giving the exams, he would start to study something else, thinking that it would be helpful for their task.

"By the way, Conan, when do you have to give the exams?" Ryu asked.

"Day after tomorrow." he replied.

"On Monday? So soon?" Rei asked, "Are you prepared?"

"Yes, I've being studying hard, what do you think?" he retorted. "So, Haibara, will you give me the pill?"

"All right. When do you want it?" she asked, "Today? Tomorrow or directly on Monday?"

"I'll take it Monday." he replied, "All the exams are in the morning. I'll have the rest of the day _free_."

After saying this, he shot Ryu a meaningful look, careful that the girls didn't notice it.

Ryu looked and him.

'He's got something in his mind.' he thought.

A few minutes later, Conan left and went back to the Mouri's, saying that he would have come back on Monday: he wanted to study tomorrow.

As he left, Ryu turned to Rei.

"Has he always been so determined?" he asked.

Rei smiled.

"Always." she replied, "It's one of his characteristics."

"I've never seen someone so stubborn." he said, shaking his head in disbelief. He turned around as he heard a muffled chuckle: Rei and Ai were stifling a laugh.

"What?" he asked.

"_You_ never saw anyone so stubborn?" Ai repeated.

"It's a bit hard to believe since you're practically like Shinichi: both determined, resolute and very, very stubborn." Rei added.

Ryu grimaced.

"Oh, all right." he said, "We have the same personality and many other... characteristics in common. Satisfied?" He walked to the door. "Well, you've got to explain me, how to the testing now."

"Let's start, then." Ai said, heading to the lab and Ryu and Rei followed her.

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Conan was walking towards the Mouri's agency, completely lost in his thoughts.

'Tomorrow, I'll stay home and study: Ran's going out with Sonoko and she said she'll be out the whole day. Kogoroh will probably be out too. No one will disturb me. On Monday morning, I'll give the exam.' he thought, 'While in the afternoon, I'll talk to her... I've got to tell her everything... I just hope she'll understand. And in the evening, I'll go through my training. I'll have to talk with Ryu.. It will be tough but... not as tough as telling the truth to her...'

He sighed and headed towards the Mouri's agency.

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It was Sunday afternoon and Rei, Ai and Ryu were working in the lab: the final testing for the antidote were pretty hard to do but thanks to their knowledge of chemistry basis and computer simulations, Ryu and Rei were giving Ai a big help.

They were all working on their laptops when Agase came in.

"Shinichi-kun's on the phone and he wants to talk with you, Ryu-kun." he said.

Ryu looked at him blankly.

"With me?" he said, "What does he want?"

"I don't know: he just said that he wants to ask you something about tomorrow." Professor replied.

Ryu got up, slightly confused.

'What does he want? Help for the exams? No, he seemed pretty sure of himself... then, what?' he thought. After a few seconds, he remembered the look Conan shot him the day before. 'He wants to do something.. probably after the exam and I think his training has something to do with it.'

He left the lab and went to the phone.

"Hello? Conan? Yes, what's up?" he asked, "Yes... tomorrow evening? Maybe, we can manage it... uhm, uhm... I knew you had something in your mind but.. are you sure you will make it? I mean, you'll be exhausted later... uhm, uhm... all right, then. Hey, wait a minute, what should I tell to explain my absence? What do you mean with -_find a way_? This is _your _idea! No, wait... Hello? _Hello?_ Damn it..."

Ryu hung the phone and slapped his forehead with his hand.

"Great!" he muttered, "What am _I_ going to make up now?"

"What did Shinichi want, Ryu?"

The boy nearly jumped when he heard the voice behind him.

"R...Rei?" he said, trying to sound natural, "What are _you_ doing here?"

"We decided to take a break." she said, "Anyway, why did Shinichi call?"

"He.. he just had a doubt in chemistry and asked me." Ryu lied.

"And he asked _you_ about chemistry?" Rei said, raising an eyebrow, "No offence meant, Ryu, but Ai's more expert than you in the subject. Why didn't he ask her?"

"I asked him the same and he said that he didn't want to disturb her since she was probably busy with the testing."

"What was his doubt?"

"Ehm.. the difference between acids and bases." Ryu said, taking the first chemical concept that came to his mind.

Rei looked at him with suspicion.

'Difference between acids and bases?' she thought in disbelief, 'He's lying... It's such an obvious concept that Shinichi must know it, otherwise he'd better not give the exam... I wonder what these two are planning. Well, let's find out..'

"I see." she said, "By the way, where are you going tomorrow evening?"

Ryu looked up at her so quickly that his neck nearly cricked.

"_What?_ Were you eavesdropping?" he asked, half-annoyed and half-amused.

"No, I casually passed here when you said that." she replied.

'Casually?' Ryu thought, 'Yeah, of course.. What am I going to tell her _now_?'

He looked around, as though expecting an answer to pop out from no where. He noticed his motorbike's helmet and an idea came to his mind.

"Conan asked me to help him choose a motorbike." he said quickly.

"_What?_" Rei said.

"Yes, he said that he wants to take advantage of the fact that he's in his normal state to go and see a few motorbikes. He will just choose one tomorrow and buy it later.." Ryu said, hoping that Rei would believe him. He nearly sighed in relief when he saw her nod. However, as he walked towards the lab Rei turned to him.

"Ryu, you're not hiding something, are you?" she asked, "Or doing anything dangerous?"

He turned around and saw concern in Rei's eyes. Ryu mentally cursed Conan and himself for hiding the training. He went towards her.

"We're not doing anything dangerous." he said, "It's just that... Co.. Shinichi has asked me a favour and I swore not to tell anyone, that's all. Really. Rei, don't worry."

Rei looked at him: Ryu had the ability to lie, keeping a straight face and looking truthful. That's how he managed to convince the Organisation during his infiltration. However, she knew that he was sincere this time: she didn't know why but she was sure of that.

"All right." she said, heading to the lab, "I'm still suspicious but you have managed to convince for the moment."

Ryu nodded and as she passed next to him, he leaned down to her and kissed her lightly on the cheek. Rei blushed while Ryu smiled at her mischievously.

"Come on." he said, "Ai's probably waiting for us."

Rei nodded and followed him to the lab, smiling slightly.

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"_You have to help me choose a motor bike?_" Shinichi asked loudly,_"What _kind of excuse is _that _?"

"Hey, calm down and keep your voice low." Ryu replied, "The girls or Agase could hear you."

Conan had come down to Agase's house at half past six in the morning: he had made up an excuse with Ran, saying that he had to go to school early to meet the Detective Boys.

Actually, he couldn't go to school so Ai was going to go and she would say that Conan had a medical visit, if someone asked why he was absent. He had taken the antidote and, after having passed out for half an hour, he was Shinichi again. It was nearly half past seven: the exam was beginning at eight o'clock.

At the moment, Shinichi was in Ryu's room and discussing about what they were going to do that evening.

"Listen, I had to make up an excuse immediately." Ryu said, slightly annoyed, "Rei's not easy to fool: I don't even think she believed me. Anyway, for this evening, you couldn't have informed before, couldn't you? Really, what's this sudden hurry of yours to test your skills now? We had planned to it after you had taken the definitive antidote, so _why_ do it today?"

"I only want to see how much I've learned." Shinichi retorted, "In this way we won't waste time later."

Ryu looked at him with a mix of amusement and exasperation. He shook his head.

"Oh, all right." he remarked, "I don't think it will be a problem to find a place to test your fighting skills: we only have to find a gym for that. The problem is the rifle-range: I'll have to check out if it's open and if they'll let us in. By the way, at what time should we meet?"

"Around four, four thirty." Shinichi replied.

Ryu looked up.

"Do the exams last so long?" he asked, "I mean, you start at eight o'clock and finish _six_ hours later?"

"Of course not. The exams should be over around two o'clock. It's just that... I have to do... a thing after." Shinichi said, looking very uncomfortable.

Ryu looked at him, raising his eyebrows, as though asking what he had to do in that already busy day but Shinichi didn't say anything. He only walked around the room, vaguely looking around.

'Something is bothering him...' Ryu thought.

"Hey, Shinichi, what's wrong?" he asked, "I've never seen you so nervous and I don't think it's for the exam."

Shinichi sighed slightly and turned around to face him. He knew he could trust Ryu: he had even lied to Rei instead of breaking the promise he had made to him.

'He could give an advice, too.' he thought.

"All right.. After the exam, I'm going to go and speak to... Ran." he said, "I'll tell her that I'll be back in a few weeks and... I.. I will tell her all the truth about my feelings."

"You're going to tell her about Ai.. I mean, Shiho?" Ryu asked.

Shinichi nodded.

"Yes, I'll tell her that I've fallen in love with another girl." he said, "I don't want her to expect something from me... I can't love. I don't love her the way she loves me. I love Shiho."

Ryu looked at him for a moment, understanding why he felt so uncomfortable: he was going to say his childhood friend something that will make her suffer and that could ruin their friendship forever. However, he couldn't help smiling slightly and Shinichi noticed it.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Nothing." Ryu replied, "I just thought that this is the first time I've heard you call Ai with her proper name: you've always called her Haibara or Miyano till now."

Despite the nerves, Shinichi smiled, blushing slightly.

"By the way, where are Rei and... Ai?" he asked.

"Ai's getting ready to go to school: that three kids should be here in a minute while Rei's downstairs." Ryu replied, getting up, "We should go downstairs too or Rei will get even more suspicious."

"Yeah and I've got to go, too." Shinichi remarked.

"Anyway, Shinichi, can I give you an advice?"

"Sure."

"When you will see Mouri-san, just say the truth: I know it will hurt her but if she cares for your friendship, and from what you said, she really does, she'll probably understand you."

Shinichi thought this over and nodded.

"Thanks Ryu." he said and the other just waved his hand.

They went downstairs and saw that Ai, Rei and Agase were all waiting for Shinichi.

"Finally!" Rei said, as she saw him, "How much did it take you to come around?"

"Half an hour." he replied, "And then, I had to get dressed. What do you think?"

He spread his arms and took a few steps behind: he was wearing his usual blue suit with a dark tie.

Rei smiled.

"You look perfect, 'Nichan."

Ai nodded in agreement, without realising it. She just stared at Shinichi.

'He's so... handsome.' she thought and blushed slightly when her words sank in.

"By the way, Professor, I'll be staying here tonight." Shinichi said, turning to Agase, "I told Ran that you asked me to stay to see another invention."

"Oh, all right." he replied, "No problem for me."

"Well, see you later." Shinichi said, going to the door.

"Good luck!" he heard them say. He turned back, smiling.

"Thanks. See you later." he said ad left.

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It was half past one: the exam was nearly over.

Shinichi was confident: he was sure he had done well on his examination papers and the oral was going pretty well, too. Another few questions and it will be over... then he would see Ran and he would have to break her heart..

'Don't think of _that_ now, Kudo.' he mentally scolded himself, 'First the exam..'

He looked up and waited as the examiner thought of the next question.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rei and Ryu were in the lab working as usual: Rei was working on a test of the antidote while Ryu was sending Matt a few e-mails, regarding their last months' events and also, about the role he had to play when he would have come.

As he sent the last e-mail, Ryu glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly three o'clock. There was still time for his meeting with Shinichi but he had a few things to sort out before.

He got up quickly, startling Rei.

"Ryu, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Ehm, sorry but I've just seen the time.." he explained, "And I've just realised that I'm late."

"Late?" Rei asked, "When do you have to meet Shinichi?"

"In a bit." he replied vaguely, heading to the door. He felt Rei's stare but he ignored it and went upstairs.

'Shinichi, I will kill you!' he thought, 'Why on earth do we have to hide your training to Rei and Ai! I'll never understand...'

He had hardly reached his room, still grumbling about Shinichi in his mind, when...

"Ryu?"

The boy nearly jumped with surprise and turned around.

"Rei?" he said in disbelief, "Wha..? Why are you following me? By the way, _when_ did you start following me? I didn't even notice you."

Rei smirked at his surprised face.

"Your observation skills to your surroundings must be dropping, Mr. Perfect-FBI-agent." she remarked sarcastically and Ryu frowned slightly.

"By the way, would you mind telling me what's going on?" she asked, "If I remember well, Shinichi said that you two had to meet around four o'clock or something.."

Ryu stared at her.

"_He_ told you this?" he asked and she nodded.

'Shinichi, I'm going to kill you!' he thought, 'Why didn't you tell me that you told Rei at what time we had to meet?'

"_So_?" she asked, "Why are you leaving so early?"

"Well..." Ryu said, "I... I've got to buy a few new parts for the radar and.. I thought I could go around a bit: you know, I've been closed in the house for weeks. I.. I thought I could ride my bike."

Rei looked at him.

"Listen, I don't want to know what you and Shinichi are hiding or doing secretly: it's your business." she said. "But I only want you two to be careful: you can't go around freely. The Organisation could have sent some agents to control the place."

"I know." he replied, "We will be careful: don't worry."

"Oh, all right." Rei said, "By the way, how come you're meeting so late? The exam should have finished at least an hour ago."

"Shinichi has to talk with his childhood friend. The one with whom he's living."

"Mouri-san?"

"Yes, he wants to inform her that he will be back in another couple of weeks. He also said that in this way she won't suspect anything about Conan's sudden leaving."

"Oh, yes, he told me that Yukiko-san would have called the Mouri's next week. However, why didn't he call her by phone as usual?"

Ryu didn't answer immediately.

"Well, he wanted to talk to her... face to face." he answered, hoping she would understand straightaway, without making other questions.

Rei looked at him and nodded slowly.

"I see." she said.

"Well, I'll go and change." Ryu said and he went in his room, closing the door.

Rei waited there for a while, thinking.

'Shinichi went to talk with Mouri-san..' she thought, 'I wonder why? It's not only to inform her that he'll be back soon... I think it's something else... but I thought he had feelings for Ai..'

She was still thinking of this as she went back downstairs, when she noticed Ai standing near the flight of stairs. One look at her face and Rei knew she had heard her talk with Ryu: the expression was emotionless but there was a glint of sorrow and pain in her eyes.

"Ai, you've come back early." Rei said.

"Yes, the Detective Boys wanted to drag me somewhere but I managed to avoid it saying that I had to help Agase." she replied.

"I see."

"Well, I'll put my bag away and then I'll start working on the antidote again."

Rei couldn't help to notice the bitterness in Ai's tone as she mentioned the antidote. She felt a bit sorry for her.

"I'll wait for you in the lab." she said, "It's just us today: Ryu's going out and Agase will be back late this evening."

"All right." Ai replied.

However, before going away, Rei wanted to say her one last thing.

"Ai?"

"Yes?" the little girl replied, turning around.

"We don't know what's in his mind: he might just want to talk to her. I wouldn't give up if I were you and I would also trust him." she said and went to the lab.

Ai stood there, by the door, slowly registering Rei's words.

She smiled slightly and went inside her room.

'So, Kudo-kun has gone to see Mouri after his exam.' she thought, 'He will probably tell her that he'll be back in a few weeks... and that he'll be back with her. I knew this would happen: the moment the antidote will be ready, he'll go back to his old life and to Mouri.'

Ai sighed and sat on her bed, thinking.

'Only six months ago, living seemed so... useless to me: my sister was dead, killed by the Organisation, the men we were both working for. The same people that closed me in a gas chamber when I threatened to stop working for them. I only wanted to know why Akemi had died..

I chose to take the APTX-4869, the poison I invented but it betrayed me. The same pill that had killed many people, many innocent people, didn't kill me. It didn't kill its creator and probably, the only person that really wanted to die. I only turned into a child and managed to escape from death.. but for what? I was alone: nowhere to go and no one to turn to. I went to the only place I knew: the house of a victim of my poison. A presumed dead that I thought was probably alive and in my same conditions.

I went to Shinichi Kudo. Our first meeting was not very friendly: we just shouted, blaming each other. That same day I broke down in front of him: I cried for Akemi and I blamed him for her death. But it wasn't his fault, even though he thought it was. I don't blame him anymore and he knows it now.'

Ai smiled slightly, thinking of the talk she had with him two weeks ago. They were both in their true forms and they talked sincerely: doubts that had been deep inside them had been cleared out.

'He knows that I don't blame him for Akemi's death.' she thought, 'And I know that he's concerned for me because... I'm a friend for him and not only because I can make the antidote to the APTX.'

She remembered his face when she promised that she wouldn't have tried to escape anymore. His smile: that simple and genuine smile on his face that made you think that everything was all right. Then, she remembered him that morning, dressed with a blue suit and tie.

'He was really handsome..' she thought and a blush crept on her face.

She didn't remember exactly when but she had immediately fallen in love with Shinichi: he was just.. perfect. Good looking and intelligent, cold with criminals but always caring and protective with the people around him, optimist and determined. Very determined.. maybe too much.

_"I will always protect you."_

He had kept that promise till now, despite all difficulties. That promise, however, had given her a ray of hope.

'I'm not alone: there are people that care for me.' she thought.

She remembered his words at the surgery.

_"We all would be worried for you: you're not alone, Miyano. You have us: your friends. I know you can't forget your past but you're not the one to blame. You were forced to work for them and forced to prepare the poison. The past is past: you can't change it. I know you're not a criminal and Ryu and Rei know it, too. You're not a member of the Organisation anymore and you're helping us bring it down. You are just like us. Don't run away: don't look away from your destiny."_

That words had helped her even more.

Having people that cared for her, having friends, it was something new for her. The only person that had loved her was Akemi but now, there were others.

'There's Agase that treats me as a member of his family; Rei that looks so much like Akemi and that has become my.. best friend; Ryu that treats me as a younger sister and really is like a brother to me; Kudo-kun... Shinichi that cares for me as a friend.. without realising that I love him. He's a great detective but he doesn't see that I love him. That clueless detective...'

She smiled slightly, imagining his face if he heard her calling him clueless again. After their talk at the surgery, they had got along better: they trusted each other more and they were more sincere and natural. They had become closer friends.

'It's enough for me. I know that he only has Mouri in his heart... the fact that he cares for me as a friend is enough. He should hate me for what I've done... but he doesn't. He has become my friend instead: he didn't hate me for making the drug and he never lost faith in my abilities to make the antidote. And now the antidote is nearly ready: only two weeks and Shinichi Kudo will be back, definitely this time. Two weeks and he'll go back to Mouri... forgetting me.. No, that's not true: he's not that type of person. He'll only spend less time here, that's all.'

Ai had never shown it but all those hours closed in the lab with Shinichi, Rei and Ryu were probably the happiest moments for her.

For the first time, she understood the meaning of the word family. She never had a family before, besides Akemi, but now it was different. She had Agase, Rei, Ryu and Shinichi around her: they were her family now. The people for whom she'd do anything and that she wanted to protect from the Organisation. The same Organisation that hurt them and ruined their lives and that had somehow brought them together.

'The first time we were all together, Agase said that it wasn't a coincidence that we met each other.' Ai thought, 'Rei, Ryu, Kudo-kun and me: all involved with the Organisation and all determined to bring it down. We are nearly there now: we have worked all those files regarding their activities and in two weeks, we will start the final step of the plan. The Organisation could fall but... what will happen to us later?'

Every time Ai thought of what would happen after, a shiver would run down her spine. Her life was so.. good now but it would last till the Organisation existed. What would happen to her after? Where would she go? Rei and Ryu had their lives in America, Shinichi had his in Tokyo but what about her? Where would she go? She didn't have a house or a place on her own. She didn't have someone that was waiting for her return.

She sometimes thought that she could stay with Agase: he would have surely let her live in his house but there was still something wrong….

'Maybe, I don't want to get divided from the others.' she thought, 'If I stayed at Agase's house, I would remember all the moments I passed with them and probably feel worse. Oh God, it's not their fault if they have a life to go back to! I'm only jealous.. that's all. Jealous... I'm jealous of Mouri, too. She has taken Shinichi's heart.'

Ai blushed slightly as she called him with his first name. She remembered a thing Rei had often said to her.

"I don't understand why you two keep calling yourselves by surname. It's more than six months that you know each other: you're close friends... This is getting ridiculous."

'I'll never be able to call him by name.' she thought, 'I'll just keep on calling him Kudo-kun and be a friend for him. I don't want to loose him... He's too important for me. I'll keep on loving him in silence: I can't deny my feelings, the same way he can't deny his to Mouri. It's only fate. Fate that we have met, fate that I have fallen in love with him while he loves another and fate that we will be only friends. I can't be selfish: I will content myself being his friend.'

Ai got up: she had decided. She would love him in silence and would have continued to be his friend. Nothing more.

'It won't be hard.' she thought, 'I've learned not to show my feelings back in the Organisation. It's one of the few useful things they have taught me.'

And after this, Ai went downstairs. Rei was waiting her to work on the antidote..

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Shinichi was standing in front of a coffee shop near Teitan High School.

He was waiting for Ran: he had called her the day before, using the bow-tie, and had planned to meet there at two thirty. It was nearly three o'clock now..

'I wonder if she hasn't understood the place or the time.' he thought, checking his watch for the tenth time, 'Damn, if she doesn't hurry up, I'll be late and Ryu will kill me. I'm the one that has forced him to prepare today's practice at the last minute.'

As he waited, Shinichi remembered his phone call to Ran.

FLASHBACK

"Hello Mouri's residence"

_"Hello... Ran?"_ Ran's eyes widened, speechless upon hearing the familiar voice that she had last heard months ago.

_"Hello.. Is anybody there?"_

"Shinichi?"

_"Hey Ran... How are you doing?"_ he asked.

"I'm fine... what about you?"

"_Not bad. Listen, Ran, I'll be in Tokyo tomorrow for a few hours: I need to get some material for a case I'm working on. Are you free tomorrow afternoon?"_

"I don't know.. why? she asked.

_"Well, I was wondering if we could meet. I.. I need to talk to you."_ Shinichi swallowed as he said this.

Ran's heartbeats doubled in a few seconds.

'HE... WANTS.. TO.. TALK.. TO ME?' she thought frantically.

"All.. right." she stammered, "When?"

_"Let's meet at the coffee shop near our school. I'll wait you there. Ok?"_

"All right, see you tomorrow, Shinichi." she said happily.

_"Yes, see you tomorrow, Ran."_ he said weakly. As he hung up, he felt guilt overcoming him. But it was worse when he went back to the agency.

Ran was so happy: she was overjoyed to see Shinichi after such a long time and she was curious to know what he wanted to tell her. Sonoko was there too and she kept giving her false hopes.

"He has probably come back to see you, Ran." she said loudly, "The story of the case is just an excuse. He must have missed you so much that as soon as he found a free moment, he came back. Just to see you!"

Ran blushed, muttering that she was exaggerating but Conan could see that she was pleased by Sonoko's words. He couldn't help feeling guilty but he couldn't show it to her, so he put a fake, happy smile on his face and just watched her. He watched her happiness that would probably change into pain tomorrow.

All because of him...

END FLASHBACK

Shinichi sighed as he thought of this.

"Shinichi!"

He turned to his right and saw Ran running towards him. She was wearing the Teitan high school's uniform and she was carrying her school bag.

'She must have just finished school.' he thought.

"Shinichi, I'm sorry I'm late." she said, stopping in front of him, "But I had to make up an excuse for my captain. You know, I've got karate practise today."

"Sorry, I didn't remember that." he said, apologetically, "My last minute call must have messed up your day."

"No, don't worry." she quickly said and looked at him.

Shinichi was still the same: dark brown hair that stuck out in the back, cobalt blue eyes, tall, well built figure. Ran blushed. Shinichi didn't notice it: he had too many things in his mind. He pointed to the coffee shop.

"Why don't we get a drink and talk?" he suggested, smiling slightly.

Ran nodded and they both went in. They sat a table near the window and ordered two coffees. They spoke about this and that: Shinichi talked about his cases(he made them up at the moment) while Ran, talked about school, her father's sudden ability in solving cases and his fame and other things that had happened to her(all things that Shinichi already knew very well).

"Shinichi?" Ran asked, after they had been in silence for a while, "What did you want to tell me?"

Shinichi nearly choked himself with his coffee as she said this. He put down his cup and looked up at her. Ran was looking at him and she was smiling: she was happy to see him, to be with him and he would have wiped that smile out of her face... but he had to. He wasn't going to play with her feelings and continue to make her suffer: he had to tell her the truth... for her own good and also for his. He knew his feelings now: he couldn't lie to himself.

"Ehm.. yes." he said, "Ran, I.. have to tell you a few things. First of all, I need to apologize: I left Tokyo suddenly, without saying a word to anyone, even to you and called randomly but I was.. very busy with some cases in America. I'm sorry for have made you worry."

"Shinichi, you don't have to.." Ran began but he stopped her.

"Please, let me finish." he said, "However, I've nearly finished with my work in America. I think I will come back to Japan in another couple of weeks."

"Really? Shinichi, this is great!" Ran exclaimed. Shinichi couldn't bare to see her happy face and shining eyes.

"Yeah, it's great." he agreed weakly, "However, there's also another thing I have to tell you.."

"Wait, I've got to tell you something before." Ran cut across him.

Slightly taken aback, Shinichi nodded.

"Go ahead." he said.

Ran looked at him blushing slightly.

'It's now or never...' she thought and she took a deep breath.

"Maybe this will sound funny to you." she said, "You could even laugh but.. I... I just wanted to say that... that I... I love you... you may think that it's stupid but it's the truth. Shinichi, tell me , do you feel the same... for me?"

Ran had wanted to say this for a long time but she was always afraid of his answer. But, at the same time, she wanted to know his feelings and hoped that he returned her love.

Shinichi froze in his position for a while. He didn't think that Ran would say that: now everything was going to be more difficult... for her and for him.

He took a sip of coffee and looked up at her. Ran was waiting. She expected an answer from him.

_"Just say the truth."_

Ryu's words came to his mind.

'Yes, I'll tell the truth..' he thought, 'Come on, then.'

"Ran, we've been friends since we were little and I really care for you." he said and Ran's face brightened, not knowing what he was going to tell her. Shinichi forced himself not to feel guilty and continued. "However, our relationship doesn't go any further than friendship. To tell the truth, I did feel something for you, something that went beyond friendship, but in these last months, my feelings have changed.."

Ran didn't say anything: she didn't even move. Her eyes were only fixed on Shinichi but the joy and warmth that were in them till a few minutes ago, had now been replaced with emptiness.

No pain. No disappointment. Her eyes were empty: the brightness had gone.

Shinichi didn't say anything either: he waited for her reaction and, at the same time, he felt himself consuming with guilt.

"Why did your feelings change?" Ran asked, suddenly, after a while.

Shinichi looked at her: she was staring at him with eyes full of pain now but her voice was still steady.

'At least, she's showing me a reaction.' he thought, 'I have to tell her everything... I'm so sorry, Ran..'

"I.. I met a girl while I was sorting out some cases months ago." he said, "I've always considered her a friend but less than a month ago, I realised that my feelings for her were different and went beyond simple friendship."

"So, she's your girlfriend, right?" Ran said, feeling tears filling her eyes and forcing them back in.

Shinichi looked at her: he didn't want to lie to her.

"No, she's not my girlfriend." he said, "Actually, she doesn't even know that I like her."

"What?" Ran asked, totally, taken aback, "Then, how can you be sure she'll return your feelings? Why...?"

"Why don't I tell her?" he asked before her and Ran nodded, despite herself. She had wanted to say, "Why do you refuse me, without being sure she'll accept you?"

"Well, at the beginning we didn't go along very well." he said, "I treated her badly and told her terrible things. However, we are good friends now: she's very intelligent and she often helps me with the cases I encounter. But I don't think she loves me: I hurt her too much. So, I prefer to stay at her side as a friend and wait for the right moment to tell her about my feelings. I don't want to ruin or loose our friendship, so I'll wait."

Ran looked at him and saw the tender smile on his face and the affection in his eyes as he spoke about this girl.

'So, this is Shinichi when he's.. in love.' she thought, 'He never had that expression when he talked to me... He must really love that girl.. but what if she doesn't? He'll only suffer.. but he doesn't seem to care. He only cares for her and will always stay by her side, even as a simple friend.'

Ran felt different feelings surging in her: pain, sorrow, disappointment but also envy and anger. Why couldn't Shinichi love her in that way? Why did he have to love a girl that maybe wouldn't even love him back? Why couldn't he have chosen her?

Many other questions came to Ran's mind but she shoved them away and looked back at Shinichi. He was staring at her with his cobalt blue eyes filled with guilt.

"Ran, listen." he said, after a bit, "Even if I don't have the feelings I used to have for you, you're still my friend. You're still the childhood friend I care for so much. I only hope that you will still consider me a friend."

Ran didn't answer: the tears she had been fighting down, were now slowly flowing on her cheeks. She got up and picked her bag. Before leaving, however, she glanced at Shinichi.

"I only know that I love you, Shinichi Kudo." she said softly, "And I don't know the rest."

"Ran! Wait!" he said, getting up, trying to stop her but it was too late: Ran had already run away.

He watched her through the window till she disappeared from sight.

"I'm sorry, Ran." he said softly, "I'm sorry to make you suffer.. but I had to. I can't deny my feelings. You deserve better."

Shinichi paid the orders shortly after and left the coffee shop.

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Ran was running without knowing where she was going. She only wanted to go away..

Far away.

She wanted to escape from the truth that had shattered her heart: Shinichi was in love.

With another girl.

'He doesn't love me!' she thought desperately, tears falling on her cheeks, 'I've waited for him for months, after his sudden disappearance. I've been worrying every day and I felt so relieved when he called me. He never said much: only cases here, cases there but he called _me_. Not Agase or anyone else. _Me_.

I thought I was special for him but I was wrong. I'm just a friend for him. Only a friend. Instead, he fell in love with a girl that, maybe, doesn't even like him.'

Ran had often thought that Shinichi could have fallen in love with another girl while he was away: he had always been very popular and girls usually swarmed around him. She was aware that there could have been that possibility but every time that thought disappeared from her mind: like that time when she thought that she had seen him with a girl in that little town next to the woods.

She really thought that he loved her. Otherwise, why did he show up, suddenly at the school play dressed as Romeo while she was Juliet? Why did he take her to visit his parents' in America?

He said that he had felt something for her before but his feelings changed months ago. Probably after he met that girl.

Ran had never felt like this before: there weren't only pain and sorrow in her heart.

She felt betrayed. Betrayed by the boy she loved.

She felt angry and jealous with the girl Shinichi loved. She has never met her but she already...

She hated her.

Ran stopped running: her heart was aching both for the run and for her false hopes on Shinichi.

She didn't want to go to her house: her Dad was out for a case and Conan-kun wasn't there to comfort her since he was staying at Agase's house.

She smiled in spite of herself as she thought of the little boy.

'He's always there for me.' she thought, 'Always there to comfort me and cheer me up. What would I do without him?'

She began to walk and just then she realised that she was in front of Sonoko's house.

The day before, she had promised her to come and tell her how her talk with Shinichi had gone and she had unconsciously come there. She walked through the gates and knocked at the door.

Ran heard footsteps and then her friend's voice.

"Who is it?" Sonoko asked loudly.

"Ran." she replied.

Sonoko opened the door immediately.

"RAN!" she said, excitedly, "You're here! So, how did it..?"

She didn't finish the sentence because she saw tears running down Ran's cheeks. She went close to her.

"Ran?" Sonoko asked concerned, "What's wrong?"

Ran just looked at her and began to cry: all her pain and sorrow poured out. Sonoko tried to calm her down and let her in.

She really wanted to know what had upset her friend so much.

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Shinichi was running towards the station.

He had to meet Ryu there at half past four and he was late. It was already twenty to five. He turned to his left and saw Ryu standing next to his motorbike.

"Hey, Ryu!" he called and the other looked up. "Sorry, I'm late but it took me more than I thought of to speak with Ran."

Ryu looked at him and noticed the sad glint in his eyes.

"How did she take it?" he asked.

"She ran away from the coffee shop." Shinichi answered, "She was hurt, very hurt. And it's all my fault."

"Well, you couldn't lie to her or play with her feelings. Give her time and she'll understand. By the way, you can still be next to her and cheer her up as Conan."

"Yeah, but only for a week. then, she'll know that I'll be leaving and it will be another pain for her."

"Give her time. It's the only way.." Ryu said, "However, we've got to go. We have wasted enough time."

Shinichi forgot Ran and his guilt for a moment and thought about his training.

"Sure, where are we going first?" he asked.

"The rifle-range." Ryu answered, "It's open only till six thirty. We have to hurry. Here take this."

He gave Shinichi a helmet and mounted his bike, putting on his helmet, too.

Shinichi sat behind him and Ryu sped off to the rifle-range.

-

It didn't take much.

The rifle-range was quite near to the police station in the centre of the city. As they parked the bike, Ryu opened the backpack he had brought with him and handed Shinichi a baseball cap.

"Just in case." he said, "I know we're quite safe since this place is near the police station but it's better not to risk."

Shinichi nodded and put it on. Ryu did the same, too. They picked their things and went in. Fortunately, there weren't many people around and nobody stopped them. They found an empty training room and went in, shutting the door close. There wasn't much inside: only a table, two chairs and a small cupboard. In front of them was a wall of glass panels, interrupted only by two glassless sections. Beyond the wall, there was a court and about ten, twenty or so meters further, were two targets.

Shinichi walked over to one of these sections and saw that there was a small base under it: there was a small electric device with a few buttons on it and a pair of earmuffs. Ryu approached him.

"That device allows you to draw and then send back the target." he explained, "You know, if you want to see if your shots have got the target well."

Shinichi nodded.

"Well, let's get started." Ryu said, putting the backpack on the table taking of his leather jacket. Shinichi took off his suit's jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.

Ryu opened his backpack and drew his revolver and his automatic, along with a handful of bullets and two chargers.

"You take the automatic." he said, "I think it's more suitable for you. You're still a bit slow when you have to load a revolver with new bullets."

He gave the gun to Shinichi and walked towards the other glassless section. He pressed a button on the device and his target came towards him slowly. Shinichi approached him and looked at the target: it was a white outline of a person on a black background.

"Well, before starting to fire, I'd better tell you where to shoot." Ryu remarked, "I think you should concentrate your efforts on arms and legs. Agase's helping me put hypodermic substance in all the bullets we have. In this way, we'll be able to knock out without killing. If you shoot at your opponent's arms or legs, you won't hurt him seriously, even though he will feel a great pain, and then the stunning substance will knock him out completely."

"Well, it should be easy." Shinichi said.

"I wouldn't say that if I were you." Ryu contradicted him, "You have to shoot with accuracy without making mistakes. You have to be quick and accurate: I don't think an agent of the Organisation will give you a lot of time to take aim." Ryu pointed at the target. "For example, imagine that you have to shoot at the left arm: if you're not accurate, if you mistake a few inches, you'll kill your opponent instantly because you shot at his heart. That's why I'm telling you to be accurate."

Shinichi nodded again.

"All right, I understood." he said.

"Well, I'll start: it will give you a general idea." Ryu said, "If you want you can put the earmuffs: I don't know if you're used to hear gun shots."

"No, I don't need them." Shinichi said, "By the way, I don't think I can wear earmuffs if I use the gun in a frontal encounter, can I?"

Ryu smirked.

"I suppose not." he said.

He pressed another button and the target went back to its place; in the meanwhile, Ryu loaded the revolver with six bullets. Shinichi watched him with a bit of admiration: he loaded the gun in less than thirty seconds. When he had tried, it took him a lot more time.

"Ok, here I go, then." Ryu said, taking aim.

He fired: the sound was deafening but Shinichi didn't even bother to it because he was too busy observing Ryu that had fired five more times. Then, he pressed a button and the target was drawn towards them.

Ryu glanced at Shinichi with a small smile.

"Well, let's if my aim is still good: I haven't used the gun since I left America." he said, "I've fired three times to the right arm and three to the left.

Shinichi turned to the target and noticed three small holes on either arms and they were all at the shoulders' height.

"Wow, all perfect shots." he said, impressed.

"Yeah, not bad." Ryu admitted, "Maybe, I should have aimed a bit more at the centre, though. I could have risked to graze the target instead of getting it full. However, it's your turn, now."

Shinichi nodded and went to the other section.

"Fire only once." Ryu instructed, "If I see any mistakes, I can correct you and you can do better on the others."

"All right." Shinichi said, "Here I go."

He aimed at the right arm of his target and fired.

He _did_ notice the shot's sound now: it was deafening. The gun nearly slipped out of his hands as the shock wave made him stumble. If Ryu hadn't caught him from behind, Shinichi would fallen to the ground.

"Well, I know you're pretty excited because this is the first time you're shooting but... you've forgotten all the basis you've learned till now." Ryu said, straightening him up. "And, by the way, I've told you that the shock wave could knock you down."

"I've noticed." Shinichi remarked, "Well, did the bullet get the target at least?"

"Ehm.. no, you missed it completely: your arms were held too high and the bullet has hit the wall above the target." Ryu said, after a look at the target.

"Great.." Shinichi muttered, "Well, what did I do wrong?"

"I've already told you this: arms parallel to your shoulders and be supple on your legs. In this way, you should be well balanced." Ryu said, "Next thing, your grip must be firmer: you're using both hands, so it shouldn't be hard, otherwise, the gun will slip off every time you fire."

Shinichi did exactly as Ryu had told him.

"The position is correct. Now, let's see your aim." Ryu remarked, "Shoot at the left arm."

"Ok." Shinichi replied and took aim carefully.

'I can't make a mistake now.' he thought and fired.

It went better.

He didn't stumble, the gun didn't slip out of his hand and he only took a step back because of the shock wave.

"Well?" he asked.

Ryu pressed the button on the device.

"I think you did well but let's be sure." he said.

The target stopped in front of them and Shinichi looked at it carefully. There was a hole on the left arm, right under the shoulder.

He grinned.

"I've made it!" he said and Ryu smiled, sending the target back.

"Yeah, it was a good shot." he said, "You only have to be quicker when you take the aim: the rest was perfect."

Shinichi was going to fire again when something came to his mind. He lowered the gun and turned to Ryu.

"Listen, are you sure we can waste bullets in this way?" he asked, "I don't think you can buy them here as easily as you can buy them in America."

"Don't worry." Ryu replied, loading his gun, "I asked Matt to supply us with ammunition and to bring other weapons when he'll come here. You can empty all the chargers if you want. I'll fire another few times, too: I need to keep in practise."

"Ok, then." Shinichi said, grinning.

-

They went on shooting for a while. Shinichi was doing well: he hardly missed the target and he was getting faster. It was nearly six o'clock when they finished. As they left the rifle-range, Shinichi was quite satisfied with himself. Ryu looked at him with an amused expression.

"You know, Shinichi, I think you're the only person I've ever met that has learned to shoot this well only in one day." he said, as they mounted the motor bike again. "Let's see how you'll be doing with fighting."

"I hope well." he replied, "By the way, where are we going now?"

"I found a gym that rents boxing rings for a few hours: it should be right for us. Well, let's go."

Ryu turned the bike and they sped towards the gym.

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They reached the gym half an hour later and they were relieved to see that there wasn't anyone inside besides the owner. They went in the changing room and left their jackets, the backpack and the helmets in there. The gym's owner looked at them with a curious expression.

'They came to do exercise... dressed in that way?' he thought surprised and also a bit amused.

As a matter of fact, Shinichi had removed his suit's jacket, his tie and his shirt's sleeves were rolled up while Ryu was wearing jeans and a white shirt. They didn't seem to bother to the man's stare.

Ryu stretched a bit.

"I think we should do a few exercises as a warm-up." he said, "You probably don't need them because you've been doing exercise every day but I'm surely out of form. Being cooped in my room for weeks has stiffened my muscles."

Shinichi looked at him.

"Are you sure your wound won't open if you do exercise?" he asked, "Or if you help me with fighting?"

"No, don't worry." Ryu replied, "It's healed now: the only pain that I'll feel will be the muscles aching tomorrow... no, tonight."

Shinichi grinned and they started the warm-up. They did a series of press-ups and knee-bends, lifted weights and at last some exercises for abdomen and back.

When they finished, they both went into the ring, standing in front of each other. Shinichi was a bit nervous: he had already seen Ryu's strength and fighting him, even though it was only for his training, wasn't reassuring.

'Well, he said that he's a bit out of form.' he thought, 'Maybe, I can do it. I have studied all those after all... well, I _hope_ I can make it.'

Ryu looked at him.

"Listen, first of all we have to see how much you know about fighting." he said, "So, you will attack me, trying to make me fall and I will only defend myself. I will defend myself at the beginning. If I see that you're good in attack, I'll test your defences." Ryu smiled slightly, seeing the look on Shinichi's face. "Don't worry, I'll take it easy and I'll give you advices during our... ehm.. fight."

"All right." Shinichi replied nervously. He took a deep breath and concentrated on all the moves he had learned. He clenched his fists and tried to punch Ryu but he seemed to read his mind. Every time Shinichi tried to punch him, Ryu dodged it easily.

"You are too foreseeable, Shinichi." Ryu said, after having dodged another punch, "You have to be more supple on your legs and you shouldn't keep your arms so stiff. You should do like this."

Shinichi didn't even see the punch, such was it's speed: he was only aware of the fact that Ryu's fist had grazed the left side of his face.

"Understood?" he asked.

Shinichi looked at him blankly.

"Come again?" he said.

Ryu sighed slightly.

"Do you remember the basis?" he asked, " All the movements start from a good control of legs, arms and body balance. Well, you're very quick on your feet thanks to soccer practice but you are too stiff. I think you know all the moves but you're not... natural."

Shinichi stared at him.

"Natural?" he repeated.

"Yes, you don't have to think of the moves but they should come naturally. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Yes, at least I think so."

"Oh, another thing. You're not left-handed, so don't put too much weight on your left foot. I think it's a habit coming from soccer: you know, when you shoot in goal, you put all your balance on your left foot. However, it's a mistake because your opponent can foresee your moves. So, take advantage of the fact that you're quick on your feet."

Shinichi nodded: he had understood quite well now.

"All right. Let's go on." Ryu said.

'Quick on the legs... Suppleness..." Shinichi reminded himself, "Good balance on both feet... Be natural.'

He threw a punch to Ryu on the face but he dodged it. He feigned to move to the left and threw a blow at his right side: Ryu was taken aback and moved away late. The punch grazed his waist.

"That's it!" he said. "Go on like this."

Shinichi decided to change moves now: punching was not easy, maybe he could do better with kicks.

He feigned a punch, dropped on a knee and kicked low with the other leg, trying to make Ryu fall. Not expecting this move, Ryu did fall but he managed to put a hand down and jump back up. Before Shinichi knew what was happening, Ryu had already slipped behind him and pinned his arm to his back. He let go immediately.

"Hey, didn't you say that you wouldn't have attacked for now." Shinichi groaned, rubbing his arm.

"Sorry, I did it instinctively." Ryu said, smiling apologetically, "By the way, good sweeping kick. You did it really well."

"Well, I saw Rei do it once." Shinichi admitted.

"You learned well." he replied, "Just a thing: you must be faster when you jump back to your feet after you kicked low, ok?"

"Uhm, uhm, all right." Shinichi replied.

"However, I think we could test your defences now. I knew you would be good in kicks and the punches aren't bad either: so, you've passed attacking moves. Now, defence."

Shinichi grimaced.

"I'll never pass that." he said, "You'll batter me up and I won't even know what has hit me."

"Come on, you're doing well and, by the way, you don't have to only defend yourself, you should also attack." Ryu said, reaching for something next to the ring, "Here put these on."

They were boxing gloves. Shinichi looked up blankly.

"Are we going to have a regular match?" he asked.

Ryu smirked.

"Well, not exactly regular since we'll use kicks, too." he said, "It will only be a... simulation of a fight. We'll put the gloves only to protect ourselves. It would be a bit hard to explain if we went back home with bruises on our faces."

"Yeah, especially after _you_ said that we have gone to see a motorbike for me." Shinichi added, smiling.

They both put on the boxing gloves and stood one in front of the other.

"Let's think that the other is a member of the Organisation." Ryu said, "So, fight seriously."

"Don't worry." Shinichi said, "If I think that you're Gin, I'll fight very seriously."

"Ok, then. Round one... go."

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"HOW COULD HE SAY THAT TO _YOU_? AFTER ALL THE MONTHS YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR HIM, HE JUST... _BETRAYED_ YOU LIKE THAT?"

Sonoko was flaming with anger.

Ran had calmed down and had just told her what has happened during her meeting with Shinichi. She couldn't believe that he could have done this to her.

"Who is this other girl anyway?" she said angrily, "He met her a few months ago and thinks she's the love of his life and has the nerve to dump you.

_You_, Ran. You that know him since you were five."

"Sonoko, you didn't see his face." Ran said, "He was... different. I think he really loves her." Tears were filling her eyes again. "He must really love this girl, whoever she is."

Sonoko went silent for a moment and then she shook her best friend.

"You still love him, don't you?" she asked.

Silence.

"Yes, I do." Ran responded quietly, "I can't forget him."

"Then go and talk to him as soon as you see him again." Sonoko said simply, "He'll be back in a couple of weeks, right?"

"Sonoko, I can't." Ran retorted, "What can I tell him anyway? I've confessed him my feelings but he refused me. What else should I do?"

"Listen, you have to fight for your love." Sonoko said, a bit irritated, "He fell in love with another girl.. so, _who cares?_ You try to bring him back to you. He'll probably see that he had done the biggest mistake in his life to refuse you and beg you to come back to him."

Ran laughed in spite of herself: Shinichi was so proud that would never admit a mistake or beg someone. However, Sonoko's words had stirred her. It was true that she loved Shinichi. She really loved him and... maybe, she should fight for him.

"Sonoko, maybe, you're right." she said, "I'll talk with him again when I'll see him."

"Oh good, you've decided to react." Sonoko said, happily, "By the way, that detective is a real fool. He said that he loved you and then, after meeting another girl, his feelings changed and he fell for her. What a fool. Let's say that this girl doesn't even consider him: I'd really like to see his face when that happens."

"Sonoko, you're cruel."

"No, I'm not. He made you suffer and I think it's right that he suffers too." she replied and smiled mischievously. "And if he gets refused, you could run to comfort him, right Ran?"

Ran blushed.

"Maybe." she managed to mutter.

"That's the spirit!" Sonoko said, "Don't give up: you two will surely get together."

Ra smiled slightly and nodded. Sonoko was right: she couldn't give up so easily.

She had to fight for her love.

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Shinichi and Ryu had just got out of the gym.

They were both wincing slightly as they walked but they seemed quite satisfied of themselves.

"You know, Shinichi, you fight really well." Ryu remarked, "I never saw anyone fight like this at the first practice."

"Well, I've studied all the moves and you've given me quite a lot of advice." he replied, "However, you're the good one. I didn't even see your punches at the beginning."

"It's just practice. If you do another few practical sessions like today, you will be able to do the same, too. And then, you'll be hard to knock out."

"I hope so."

"And you'll be able to protect Shiho from anyone."

Shinichi blushed while Ryu laughed.

"I think we should go home, now." Ryu said, looking at his watch, "It's half past eight: Rei, Agase and Ai will wonder where we have gone."

Shinichi didn't answer immediately: there was still something he wanted to do today.

An important thing...

"Ryu? Do you mind if we go somewhere else before going back to Agase's place?" he asked.

"No, no problem for me." he answered, "Where do you want to go?"

"I'll show you the way." Shinichi said, ignoring the question. " It's not far: we should be there soon."

"All right." Ryu said. He had noticed the look on his face and he knew that further questions with have been useless.

They mounted on the motor bike and sped away. Ten minutes later, Shinichi told Ryu to stop: they were in front of a flight of stone steps that led to a temple.

'This place looks like a... ' Ryu thought, slightly confused.

"Ehm, Shinichi, you're sure you want to go here?" he asked.

"Yes, I wanted to do it for a long time." he replied, taking of his helmet, "And I wanted to go as Shinichi and not as Conan." He got down and turned to Ryu. "Do you mind waiting here? I'll be back in a few minutes."

Ryu nodded.

"Sure." he said, "No problem."

"Thanks." Shinichi said and walked up to the temple.

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Rei, Ai and Agase had just had dinner: they had waited for Ryu and Shinichi till a quarter past eight but since they didn't show up, they had decided to eat.

The girls were in the lab now and they were both wondering where the boys were and what they were doing.

"They're both hiding something." Rei said.

"Yes and they've been behaving strangely since we had that narrow escape with Scotch weeks ago." Ai remarked.

"Yes, they're always closed in Ryu's room, telling that they're working on the radar. I didn't suspect anything the first week because they also had the files to work out and they always did it."

"Shinichi's been acting strangely at the beginning, too. He was always wincing whenever he moved."

"Right, but it only lasted a few days: he was normal later." Rei said. Then, realising a fact, she turned to Ai, smiling slightly. "I see that you've finally decided to call him with his name." Her tone was teasing and Ai blushed. "However, I've got a few suspects."

"That are?"

"Well, Shinichi was very dejected weeks ago: he said that he felt useless because he couldn't have helped us fight Scotch in a frontal encounter since he didn't have fighting or shooting skills." Rei remarked, thoughtfully, "So, what if..."

"What if Ryu's teaching him how to fight and shoot?" Ai completed.

"Yes. It would make sense: Shinichi's starting muscular problems, all their hiding in Ryu's room.. Today, they're probably taking advantage that Shinichi's in his true form to test his skills. What do you think?" Rei asked.

"Well, it could be." Ai admitted, "But why do it secretly?"

"Good point. Why hide it? Maybe, it's Shinichi's idea: we were busy with the antidote and the working of the files and he didn't want to disturb us. Ruy had more time since he had to recover from his injury." Rei said, "Or maybe, he didn't tell us anything for pride and asked Ryu to keep the secret."

"That would explain why Ryu was always so uncomfortable.." Ai remarked.

"Yes, he doesn't like to lie to the people around him." Rei said, laughing slightly. "However, we'll see if our theories are right when they come back: if they look tired, it means that we're right."

"Let's see, when they come back.." Ai said, smiling slightly.

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Shinichi gently lifted the latch of a metal gate and opened a door, letting himself into the graveyard, behind the temple.

He walked slowly among the stones until he reached the one he was looking for. His memory hadn't failed him: the tombstone was exactly where he remembered. He looked at the name and felt a pang of guilt and sorrow.

'The name should be changed.' he thought, 'At least now that she's resting, she should be called with her true name.'

He knelt down and burnt a few sticks of incense and prayed for a minute. Then he looked up.

"Hello, Masami-san... sorry, Miyano-san." he said, softly, "You probably don't recognize me: I am Shinichi Kudo, the last person you saw before you died... This is the second time I've come here: last time, it was your during your funeral and I was a kid. That Conan Edogawa, you have seen and talked to many times when you worked at the bank.

But today... tonight, I'm here to sort out a few things and I wanted to do it in my true form.

First... I am sorry, Akemi-san. I failed to save your life: I didn't warn you in time and Gin killed you. Now, Gin wants to kill your sister: she has betrayed the Organisation after your murder and they tried to kill her but, fortunately, she survived. She's a little kid like me now and.. we're friends. She's helping me and other friends bring the Organisation down. You know one of them since you asked his help years ago: Ryuji Kazama. However, we are working hard because we have all been hurt by the Organisation and we want to see it destroyed.

But I've come here for another reason.

In the last months, my feelings towards your sister have changed and I.. well, I've fallen in love with Shiho. She doesn't know anything: I want to find the right moment. We are getting along well now and I don't want to ruin everything. Anyway, I want to make you a promise.

I swear that I will always protect Shiho. I won't let anything happen to her: neither by Gin or anyone else. I failed to save you, Akemi-san but I promise I will do anything for Shiho.

And as last thing, I.. I want to thank you. After your death, Shiho escaped from the Organisation and came... to me. I don't know if it's only a coincidence or if it's fate but... we met thanks to you. Somehow, our lives are entwined now. I just wanted to say this: Thank you. Well, I have to go now. I'll be back and I promise I'll find a way to change the name on this stone, so that everyone will know who you really are. Goodbye, Akemi-san."

As the boy was leaving, a gentle breeze swept through the yard, caressing a tree in the graveyard. One of it's last white flowers, grazed the tomb with burning incense sticks and then landed on the boy's jacket.

Maybe, it was Akemi's way to tell Shinichi that she had heard him.

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It was nearly nine o'clock when Ryu and Shinichi came back to Agase's house. Ryu parked his motor bike inside the lawn and they both walked to the door.

"Ehm, Shinichi?" Ryu asked, "What excuse are we going to make up now?"

"Ehm... I have no idea." Shinichi replied.

"Well, think of something." Ryu said and he rang the doorbell.

Agase opened the door.

"Ryu-kun! Shinichi-kun! Where have you been?" he asked, letting them in, "We already had dinner: we have been waiting for you but we gave up after a while."

"Sorry, Professor." the boys said together.

"Where are Rei and Ai?" Ryu asked, putting the helmets away.

"I think they're upstairs." Agase replied, "Anyway, what's happened to you two? You look exhausted."

Shinichi and Ryu looked at each other: they were both sweaty and they looked very tired.

"Ehm, it's nothing." Shinichi said going upstairs, "Just a long day."

"Yeah, we'll take a shower and eat something later." Ryu added, following Shinichi.

"All right." Professor said, "Your dinner's on the table."

"Thanks, Agase."

The boys went upstairs and headed to Ryu's room.

"We have fooled Agase." Shinichi said, "Now, we have the other two."

"It won't be easy to fool Ai and Rei." Ryu remarked, "They're already suspicious and they probably know that we're hiding something."

"Good thinking, Ryu."

"As a matter of fact, we _do _know what you two have been doing."

Shinichi and Ryu nearly jumped when they heard the girls' voices. They turned around and saw Rei and Ai, standing at their room's door frame. Ryu had the suspect they had heard every word they had been saying. Shinichi must have thought the same because he glanced at Ryu.

"Come again?" he asked.

Rei and Ai looked at each other.

"Shinichi, which motor bike, did you choose?" Rei asked suddenly.

"Motor bike?" he asked blankly.

"Well, yes, that's what you two have been doing for the last... five hours, haven't you?" Ai said with sarcasm, "Choosing a motor bike."

Ryu poked Shinichi hard on the ribs and this seemed to make his brain work again.

"_OUCH!_ Oh, yes, the motor bike..." he said, "Well, I... I chose a.. a Honda Hornet 900."

The girls looked at him with eyebrows raised and a slightly amused look.

"Ehm, I think I'll go and take a shower." Ryu said, knowing that the girls wouldn't give up so easily and Shinichi followed suite.

"Yeah and I have to change too."

They had hardly reached the door when..

"So, how did your first practical training session go?" Rei asked nonchalantly.

Shinichi turned around so quickly that he appeared to have cricked his neck.

"How do _you _know?" he asked surprised.

"Well, it seems that we have guessed right, then." Ai remarked, smirking at Shinichi's face.

"They have fooled you, Shinichi." Ryu muttered.

"Yeah, I've noticed.." he replied, slapping his forehead and shaking his head in disbelief.

"Well, we will explain later, ok?" Ryu said, "We have to take a shower, change ourselves and eat something before: I'm starved."

"All right." the girls replied and went downstairs.

-

It was nearly half past ten: Ryu and Shinichi had just told Rei and Ai everything about the training Shinichi had started weeks ago and what they had done today. They only omitted the real reason that lead Shinichi tp start his training and his visit to the graveyard. The girls teased them a bit because they had done everything secretly: there wasn't anything to hide. They had only wasted energy.

Ryu and Rei were in the lab, now: they were sending a few e-mails to Matt.

Shinichi and Ai were in the living room.

Shinichi was thrown on the couch: he was exhausted. Ai looked at him.

"Kudo-kun, how did the exam go?" she asked.

"Fine." he replied, "It was easy after all."

"When will you get your results?"

"Ehm.. I think next week."

"Was your training so hard? You look unable to move."

"It _was_ hard: especially fighting. Ryu battered me up well. All my bones and muscles are aching."

"Well, you can practise more often from now on since you don't have to hide anymore."

"Yes, good thing. Anyway, Haibara, I promise I won't hide anything from you and Rei again. You always find out while I always waste energy. It's simply useless."

Ai smiled slightly.

"I see." she said.

Just then, she remembered that he had talked to Ran that evening.

'Well, it's just a question, after all.' she thought, 'Let's see what he answers.'

"Ehm, Kudo-kun? What did you do after the exam, before meeting Ryu?" she asked casually.

No answer.

"Kudo-kun?"

She turned to him and saw that he was fast asleep on the couch.

'He was really tired.' she thought, smiling slightly.

She took a blanket from her room and covered him. She looked at him for a moment.

'He looks so defenceless when he sleeps' she thought, smiling to herself.

She switched off the lights, before leaving the room.

"Good night, Shinichi." she said softly.

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Chapter up! I hope you liked it: this is more a transition chapter. I just sorted out a few things. The following ones will be more in the story.

REVIEW!

Bye.


	18. Goodbye Conan and Ai

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Detective Conan .

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR Chapter 17: Goodbye Conan and Ai.

"Children, I have to tell you something that won't make you very happy. Conan and Ai are leaving for America: today's their last day of school with us."

The teacher's announcement was taken with surprise by the whole class, especially by Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko who were dumbstruck. They didn't know anything about this and they just stared at the two silent kids, standing next to the teacher.

However, at recess, the Detective Boys were hanging near the swings and the three kids were bombarding Conan and Ai with questions.

"_Why_ are you leaving?"  
"_When_ are you leaving?"  
"_Why didn't you tell us?_"

Conan and Ai glanced at each other: they had expected this reaction.

"Listen, it happened suddenly." Conan said, "My parents have finished to travel because of their work and they've decided to take me back home. That's the main reason I've been at Ran-neechan's house for all this time: they didn't want me to be home alone. While Haibara..."

"I have a relative that lives in America and he says that he will take care of me like Agase did." Ai remarked, looking over her magazine.

"When are you going to leave?" Mitsuhiko asked.

"Tomorrow." she replied.

"WHAT?" the three kids exclaimed together, "SO SOON?"

"Yes, my Mom and Haibara's relative will come together tomorrow and we'll leave immediately: they have to go back to work." Conan said. He saw the looks on their faces. "We will be leaving at noon from Agase's house so, if you want, you can come over to see us."

Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko seemed to cheer up a bit when he said this.

"How come you're leaving together?" Genta asked curiously.

"It seems that Edogawa-kun's house in America is next to my relative's house." Ai replied, "We're neighbours."

Ayumi and Mitsuhiko didn't seem so happy of this last detail and Conan and Ai couldn't help but smile slightly: they both knew that the two kids liked them in a special way.

The bell rang and as they went back to their class, Conan glanced at Ai.

"You know, I think I'll miss those three." he said, "And all their crazy ideas of becoming famous and rich solving cases."

"The famous Detective Boys... without the real detective. " Ai remarked, "I hope they won't get in trouble, investigating on their own."

"Yeah, we'll have to keep an eye on them." Conan said, "They _always_ get in trouble."

"Yes, you're right." she said. "Anyway, let's go, Kudo-kun."

"Oh, yes. If we don't hurry, we'll miss our last day in first grade." he said sarcastically, "It would be terrible."

Ai smirked and they both went back to class.

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That afternoon, as soon as classes were over, Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta managed to drag Conan and Ai with them to the park.

"Come on, you're leaving tomorrow." Ayumi said, "Who knows when you'll come back?"

Conan and Ai accepted because they didn't want to spoil the children's enthusiasm and innocent faith. They didn't know that they wouldn't have met each other again.

'Conan will disappear forever tomorrow.' Conan thought as he looked at the kids, walking in front him. 'I'm sorry but you won't meet me again.'

Ai was thinking the same.

'We won't meet again.' she thought, 'You'll go on with your happy lives while I'll try to destroy the ones that made my life miserable.'

Ai thought of how much she owed to that three kids, the Detective Boys: Genta Kojima, Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya and Ayumi Yoshida.

'Kojima, the leader of the group that always has food in his mind; Tsuburaya, the logical mind that sometimes gives useful hints to solve cases and that happens to like me. _Me_. I'm sure he'll find someone more suitable for him. And then, Yoshida...Yoshida, the nice and caring child with an invincible stare: the stare of innocence. She was the one that started talking to me when I first got to school, the one that dragged me into the Detective Boys group, the one that was jealous of me because I was close to Kudo-kun…

I owe a lot to them... They're probably the only ones that have given me innocent friendship, the only ones that have made friends with me without bothering of who I am or where I came from. For them, I'm simply Ai Haibara, a girl of their age.'

"Haibara?"

Ai turned to her left, as Conan called her.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Do you feel guilty as I do?" he asked, keeping his voice low. "For not telling that we'll never meet each other again. In this state, I mean."

"Well, they'll find out tomorrow." she replied, "Let's give them false hopes for now."

"Yeah, it's better." he said, sighing slightly.

"Come on, Kudo-kun, it's our last day as seven year olds." Ai said, "It's the last time we'll have to behave as kids."

Conan looked at her with a smile on his face.

"Well, let's make Conan and Ai enjoy their last day, then." he said and Ai smiled back.

"Conan-kun, Haibara-san! Hurry up!" Ayumi called from the other side of the road. Conan and Ai glanced at each other again and hurried to her.

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Ran was in the kitchen: dinner was ready and she was setting the table. As she put three plates and glasses on the table, a sudden wave of sorrow overcame her.

It was the last time that she would have to set the table for three.

Conan's mother had called less than a week ago and had told her that she was coming to take her son back home. She didn't have to travel anymore for her work, so she wanted to have Conan back with her: she would take care of him now that she didn't have to spend all her time out.

"I can't stay for long in Japan: my husband's busy with work and I have to help him with a few things. I'll come Saturday morning and leave with Conan shortly after."

'This were her words on the phone.' Ran thought, 'Conan-kun will leave tomorrow at noon and he probably won't come back here anymore.'

Ran knew that Conan would have had to leave her house and go back to his parents but, somehow, she hoped he would have stayed forever. She was really fond of that little boy that behaved as an adult. Caring, cheerful and protective Conan: he was going to leave her. First Shinichi and now him.

"I'm back, Ran-neechan!"

Ran's heart gave a lurch as she heard him: she wasn't going to hear this anymore from now on.

'Get a grip, Ran!' she scolded herself, 'It's his last day here: let him enjoy it.'

"Welcome back, Conan-kun." she called, "How come you're late?"

Conan appeared at the door, carrying his school bag.

"Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko took Haibara and me to the park and many other places." he said, "They wanted us to have a good memory of our last day here."

"Oh, it's very sweet of them." Ran said, "Are they coming to Agase's house tomorrow?"

"Yes, they want to say goodbye to me and Haibara."

"It's been a lucky coincidence that Ai-kun's house is next to yours. You won't feel lonely in America since she's there."

"Yeah." Conan replied shortly. He didn't like lying to Ran or talking to her about Ai.

'If Ran knew that she's the one that has taken her place in my heart, she wouldn't say this.' he thought, 'She wouldn't.'

The events had taken an unexpected turn: he had thought that after their talk at the coffee shop, after he had told Ran he had feelings for another girl, she would have stopped thinking of him and that she would probably hate him. He thought he'd have to comfort her, as Conan. And he did do it, but...

FLASHBACK

"I'm back, Ran-neechan!"

Conan had just come back to the Mouri's detective agency, after his day as Shinichi and after having spent the night at Agase's house. As he walked inside the house, he forced himself to be normal and pushed away all the guilt he was feeling.

He looked around: the house seemed desert. Kogoroh was probably out for a case or for a drink but where was Ran? He remembered that Sonoko had asked her to come to her house after their meeting because she wanted to know what had happened and what he had to tell her.

'Ran might have gone to Sonoko's place to get a bit of comfort since no one was home.' he thought.

He slowly walked to the his door when he heard a soft cry from the room next to his: Ran's room. She was still crying for him. Once again, he had made her cry.

Slowly, he opened the door of her room. Ran was lying on her bed and it seemed that she had been crying for a long time: her eyes were red and her face was filled with moist tears. She didn't notice Conan come in and approach her until he spoke.

"Ran-neechan, why are you crying?" he asked softly, struggling the guilt and pain he felt for making her suffer so much.

Ran got up with a start.

"Conan-kun! When did you come back?" she asked, hastily drying her tears with her hand.

"Why are you crying?" he asked again.

"Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry." she said, forcing a small smile, "Come on, it's late: I have to get dinner ready. You're hungry, aren't you?"

She was getting up and was going to leave the room.

"You're crying for that Shinichi Kudo again, aren't you?" Conan said painfully, knowing the answer already.

Ran turned around quickly and stared at him.

"How do you know?" she asked as tears filled her eyes. "Anyway.. it doesn't matter anymore: he gave me an answer... But I still love him." Tears rolled down on Ran's cheeks as she said this and she hugged Conan, sobbing softly on his shoulder. He hugged her back.

"Why don't you just forget him?" Conan asked.

"I love him even if he doesn't love me." Ran said, tightening the embrace, "I'll love him forever as he will be inside my heart,"

"He isn't worth your tears and heart." Conan said softly, as guilt surged in him again, "He made you cry so many times."

"Maybe... but I will wait for his return, even if he already has a girl in his heart. I will wait and I will talk to him again." Ran explained.

"You will wait? "Conan asked surprised.

"Yes, I want to talk to him again: maybe I can show him that my feelings are really strong." Ran said, "I will wait without giving up and will talk to him again"

Ran's heart was already broken but still she didn't want to let go. She really loved Shinichi with all her heart and soul and she wasn't going to give up. She was going to fight for him.. even with the girl he loved now.

Conan felt guilt wash through him. He didn't have the heart to contradict her: how could he tell her that her efforts would be vain? Shinichi.. he was in love with another girl. With Shiho. Ran was only a friend for him: his dearest childhood friend.

Ran got up and dried her tears quickly.

"Thank you, Conan-kun." she said, smiling slightly, "You're always here when I sad. What could I do without you?"

Conan forced a smile but he had never felt so bad before.

'I'm sorry, Ran but I will leave you soon, too.' he thought.

"Come, let's get dinner ready. I don't know when Dad will come back, so it's just us."

"Yes, Ran-neechan." he replied.

END FLASHBACK

Conan looked at Ran as she was busy, preparing dinner. She didn't show her feelings openly when his mother called, telling that she was coming to take him home. However, he knew that she was suffering: Conan was like a little brother to her.

"Conan-kun?"

"Yes, Ran-neechan?" he asked, snapping out of his thoughts.

"Have you packed everything?"

"Yes, all my things are ready."

"Good. You know, we have to be at Agase's house before noon. Your mother said that you have to take the plane at one o'clock: if you forget something here, you can't take it back."

"I've checked everything, Ran-neechan."

Ran looked at the little boy and smiled slightly.

"Ok, then." she said, "Go and put your bag away and wash your hands. Dinner is ready: I've made all your favourites."

Conan managed to smile brightly.

"Thanks, Ran-neechan!" he said and left the kitchen.

As Ran started to serve dinner, she found herself thinking of all the days spent with the boy.

'Thank _you_, Conan-kun.'

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There was a small crowd in front of Agase's house.

There were Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta but also Sonoko, Detective Sato, Detective Takagi and Inspector Megure. They were all there to say goodbye to Conan and Ai (although most of them were there only for Conan).

"Wow, there's a crowd out there." Ryu said, carefully looking out of the window.

"Yes, you two are pretty popular, aren't you?" Rei asked, turning to Ai.

Ai smirked.

"Kudo-kun is popular." she replied, "He helped solve many of the cases that the police officers out there were working on. And he was always hanging around with Detective Mouri, too."

"Come on, they came for you, too." Rei said, "That three little kids are an example. By the way, why is Suzuki here?"

Ai peeked out of the window and shrugged.

"I have no idea." she said.

Just then, Agase came in the room, carrying a suitcase.

"Ai-kun, I think we should go out." he said, "Otherwise, they will wonder what has happened to you."

"Professor, it's only half past eleven." she replied.

"Matt said that he'll be here with Kudo-san at twelve sharp." Ryu said, getting away from the window, "You can take it easy."

"Oh, all right." Agase said, "We'll leave when Shinichi-kun comes."

They didn't have to wait long: the Mouri's car parked in front the house fifteen minutes later. Ran, Conan and Kogoroh were greeted by the people outside.

"Shinichi-kun's coming here." Agase said, glancing out of the window.

Rei and Ryu got to their feet immediately.

"Is there someone with him?" Ryu asked. No one had to see Rei or him.

"Well, Ran-kun's following him... no, she stopped. He's alone."

Conan opened the door and came in.

"Hello, everyone." he said, "What's that crowd out there?"

"All people that want to say goodbye to you and Ai, I suppose." Rei said, "Anyway, I think you should go out. Matt and Yukiko-san should be here in a few minutes."

"Yeah, we'll wait here." Ryu added.

Agase picked the suitcase and headed out of the door, followed by Conan and Ai.

"See you later." they said together to Ryu and Rei.

As they were going out, Conan turned to Ai.

"Here comes the hard part." he whispered, "Saying goodbye to everyone: even if it's an act."

"It will be difficult the same." Ai continued, "Especially for you, Kudo-kun: nearly everyone is here for you."

"That's not true." he retorted, "They're here for you too, Haibara."

Ai smiled slightly at him.

"Conan-kun! Haibara-san!" Ayumi said tearfully, as soon as she saw them, "Is it true that you won't come back anymore?"

Conan and Ai glanced at each other uncomfortably, wondering how the little girl had found out this 'detail'. Mitsuhiko and Genta came to her side, too.

"I'm sorry, Conan-kun." Ran said apologetically, approaching them, "Dad informed your friends, before I could stop him."

'That fool of a detective..' Conan thought, 'Why can't he keep his mouth shut?'

"So, is it true, Haibara-san?" Mitsuhiko asked, "You won't come back again?"

"Well, yes." Ai replied, "Edogawa-kun and I didn't want to hide it to you but.."

"We didn't want to.. ehm.. sadden you more." Conan added.

Ayumi burst into tears and Genta and Mitsuhiko seemed to be on the verge of tears, too.

Conan and Ai looked at each other helplessly. Ran pitched in and gently tried to comfort Ayumi while Detective Sato calmed down the other two kids.

"There, there, calm down." Ran said, "If they go away, it doesn't mean you won't be friends anymore."

"Exactly." Sato added, "You will be friends forever."

The three kids quickly dried their tears and looked up.

"Really?" they asked, looking at Conan and Ai.

The two 'kids' smiled slightly and nodded. Then Conan put his hand in his pocket and brandished the detective badge.

"We're the Detective Boys, aren't we?" he said, "Now and forever."

Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko beamed at him while Ai shot him a smile: he had said the right thing.

It was nearly noon when a large grey car showed up on the street and slowly stopped in front of Agase's house and two people came out.

One was a lady: plump, dark haired, wearing glasses and a skirt with jacket. Fumiyo Edogawa, alias Yukiko Kudo. The other was a young man: tall, short black hair, bright green eyes, wearing grey trousers, a white t-shirt and a black shirt over it with dark trainers. Ai's relative, alias Matt Xanders.

They smiled broadly and Conan and Ai greeted them. They had to put on their act now.

"Hi, Mom." Conan said, as Mrs. Edogawa hugged him.

"Oh, my dear, I can't wait to get home with you." she said, "Your father and I missed you so much."

Ran looked at the scene and felt a wave of joy and sorrow surge in her. She was happy for Conan: he would live with his parents again but she felt sad for herself. He was going to leave her.

Matt and Ai were in a weird situation: they had never met before but they had to behave as they knew each other for years.

"Hello, Ai." Matt said, hugging the little girl (Ai blushed slightly), "It's good to see you again."

"I'm happy to see you, too.. Matt." she replied.

Then, he went to Agase, thanking him for having taken care of Ai for all this time. Sonoko had dashed towards Agase hoping to be introduced to Matt.

Mrs. Edogawa addressed herself to Ran and Kogoroh.

"Thank you for having taken care of my son for all these months." she said, "You have taken him in your house even if you didn't know him. I really don't know how I can repay you."

"Well, you could repay us the same way you did last time..." Kogoroh began. He remembered that when they had met the first time, Mrs Edogawa had given them ten million yen for the keep of Conan. "So, what do you... OUCH!"

Ran had elbowed her father on the ribs.

"No, don't worry, Mrs Edogawa. You don't have to give us anything. _Right, Dad?"_ she said, shooting him a withering look and Kogoroh nodded quickly. "It had been a pleasure to take care of Conan. Really."

Conan's mother smiled.

"Mrs Edogawa, I think we should go." Matt said, approaching her, "Our plane's in an hour. We don't have a lot of time."

"Yes, you're right." she replied. Then she turned to Conan, "Why don't you go and say goodbye to all your friends, dear?"

Conan nodded and first went towards the police officers: he said them goodbye and they hugged him in turn (Conan blushed when Detective Sato did) and each said something before saying goodbye to him.

"Who will help us during cases from now on?" Inspector Megure said, "I won't see you around investigating on your own anymore, Conan-kun."

"Yes, who will point me out the clues I missed?" Takagi added.

"We will miss your observations and hints during cases." Sato remarked.

Conan just smiled at them. He quickly said goodbye to Sonoko, who remarked that she won't be involved in murders anymore since he was going away and to Kogoroh, who said that he wouldn't see him, the great detective in action again. Conan couldn't help but smirk.

'_Neither will you_.' he thought.

Then he said goodbye to Agase.. well it was only a feign.

The only ones left were the Detective Boys and Ran. Conan and Ai went to say goodbye to the three kids together.

Genta and Mitsuhiko were on the verge of tears when they said them goodbye, even though Mitsuhiko blushed furiously when Ai smiled at him slightly. On the other hand, Ayumi was sobbing: she flung her arms around Conan and Ai's neck, taking them both aback.

"I will miss you two so much." she said, through the tears.

"A.. Ayumi-chan, calm down." Conan said, "I... we will miss you too."

"Yes, he's right." Ai added, "We will miss you too but we have to go. Come on, Yoshid... Ayumi, stop crying."

The little girl was so surprised to hear Ai call her by name that she immediately stopped.

"Yeah, let's part with a smile." Conan said, smiling.

Ayumi nodded and managed to smile slightly.

"Ok, I hope to see you again." she said, "Bye."

Now, there was only Ran. Conan approached her.

"Goodbye, Ran-neechan." he said.

Ran bent down and hugged him.

"Goodbye, Conan-kun." she said softly, "I will miss you."

"I will miss you, too." he said, struggling the guilt he was feeling.

"I hope to see you again and remember to write sometimes, ok? Bye Conan-kun and take care."

"Bye, Ran-neechan." Conan said.

'I'm sorry to leave you also in this form, Ran.' he thought sadly.

Ai watched the scene and felt a twitch of jealousy. To her surprise, Ran suddenly knelt in front of her and hugged her, too. She smiled kindly.

"Goodbye, Ai-kun." she said, "Take care, all right?"

'You should thank me.' Ai thought 'You'll have him back now. He'll be with you again.'

"Goodbye, Ran-neechan." she said.

They were going to leave when a voice called.

_"Hey, Conan-kun!"_

Conan turned around and noticed a boy running towards them.

'Who's that?' he wondered.

But when the stranger came close, his mouth dropped open.

"S.. Shinichi?" Ran gasped.

The boy stopped in front of Conan and looked up. He was exactly like Shinichi, only with the hair a bit more ruffled. He smiled at Conan.

"Sorry, I'm late." he said, "But I hurried here as fast as I could: I couldn't let my friend go away without saying him goodbye."

Conan was so stunned that he didn't talk or even move and the other people there were just as surprised, especially Mrs Edogawa, Ran, Agase and even Ai, though she didn't show it openly.

Noticing the awkward situation, the boy bent down to Conan.

"Well, I told you I'd show up, meitantei-san." he said. The last word was barely audible and only Conan and Ai heard it. The little boy's widened to the size of saucers.

"KID?" he mouthed, "_Kaito Kuroba_?"

Kaito nodded, smiling slightly. Conan's brain seemed to be working again, now.

"I'm happy to see you, Kaito-nichan." he said, with his childish voice, smiling broadly, "I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye to you, too."

"Yeah. Anyway, goodbye, Conan-kun." Kaito said and gave him a quick hug, "Hope to see you."

"Go in the house as soon as everyone's gone." Conan whispered, as they parted, "Explain everything to Professor and the others."

Ran and Sonoko approached them.

"Who are you?" Sonoko asked Kaito.

"I'm Kaito Kuroba." he replied, smiling slightly.

"Yes, and he's my friend." Conan pitched in.

Ran smiled slightly.

' He's exactly like Shinichi.' she thought, 'For a moment I thought it was him.'

"Conan! Ai!" Matt called, "Come on, we have to go."

Conan and Ai headed to the car: Mrs Edogawa was already in and Matt was putting there things in the boot. As soon as he got in, Mrs Edogawa started the car.

"Well, goodbye." she said and sped off.

As the car turned, Ran felt as though a small part of her was leaving too. She felt sorrow wash her.

'Goodbye, Conan-kun...'

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"Stop here. It's far from the house and no one will notice us."

The large grey car stopped in the parking lot of a supermarket: ten minutes had passed since they had left Agase's house.

"It's only a quarter past twelve." Matt said, checking his watch, "We'll have to wait till Ryu or Rei will tell us that the coast's clear and we can come back."

"Well, this means that you can get rid of that disguise, Mom." Conan remarked, "Better not take risks: if someone sees you..."

"All right." she said and ripped off the mask: she was Yukiko Kudo again. "But I think I'll miss it: it was fun to act again."

"Fun?" Matt exclaimed, "It might have been fun for you, Mrs Kudo but it was only weird for me: I had to say that I was her relative without even having met her before." Conan and Ai smiled slightly. "By the way, we should introduce ourselves." He turned around. "Matt Xanders, pleased to meet you."

"Shinichi Kudo." Conan said, shaking his hand.

"Shiho Miyano, pleased to meet you." Ai said.

Matt looked at them with a slightly amused look.

"You know, Ryu and Rei have sent me a few e-mails telling me who you are and what has happened to you but... it's incredible!" he said, "You are two seventeen years olds trapped in seven year olds bodies. I wouldn't believe if someone told me."

"Well, it won't last for long." Ai remarked, "We'll take the antidote as soon as we'll be back to Agase's house."

"Yeah, we'll be ourselves again." Conan added, "Forever this time."

"You'll just have to wait then." Matt remarked, "We'll get the other's call soon."

"By the way, Shin-chan." Yukiko said suddenly, turning to him, "Who was that boy that looked exactly as you? If it wasn't for his hair, I could have mistaken him for you."

"Oh, he's just Kid." he replied, "Phantom thief Kid. I asked him to help us with the Organisation."

Then, thinking it over, "I'd like know to _how_ he knew that we were... leaving today. I didn't tell him anything about it."

"Maybe, he used his abilities as thief and magician to find out." Ai suggested.

"So, this.. Kid, is involved in our plan, too and he's a thief. Well, what an _interesting _team we have made." Matt said ironically.

Yukiko laughed while Conan and Ai smiled.

Just then, the phone rang. Conan answered immediately.

"Hello? Ryu? Everyone's gone away? All right... We'll be there in ten minutes." he said, "By the way, is Kid there? Ok... see you later."

He put the earring phone back inside his pocket and looked up at the others.

"They're waiting for us." he said, "We can go."

Yukiko started the car and they headed back to Agase's house.

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Conan, Ai, Yukiko and Matt were at Agase's house ten minutes later.

Yukiko parked the car behind Professor's house and they all went in. Agase greeted them and took them in the living room where Rei, Ryu and Kaito were talking.

"Oh, here you are." Ryu said, standing up as they entered. Rei and Kaito got up, too.

Matt approached Ryu and Rei and gave them a brotherly embrace.

"You two..." he said, slowly, "Can you even imagine how worried I was when you didn't contact me for all this time?"

Rei and Ryu glanced at each other uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry but I had to." Ryu said, apologetically, "I didn't want anyone to be in danger because of me."

"And I didn't call because I wanted to find him and finish all my work before." Rei apologized, "I'm sorry, Matt."

Matt broke the embrace and looked at them smiling.

"Don't worry. You've been going through very hard moments." he said, "We knew it could have happened when we started our plan. However, Ryu, you must only do me a favour."

"Sure. What is it?" he asked.

"You have to call home and talk with Mom and Dad. They've been worried sick since the day you disappeared."

Ryu nodded, smiling slightly. Then he noticed Yukiko and approached her.

"I didn't introduce myself, did I?" he said, holding out his hand to the woman, "I am Ryuji Kazama, but everyone calls me Ryu. Pleased to meet you, Kudo-san."

Yukiko smiled and shook his hand.

"Pleased to meet you, too, Ryu-kun." she said, "You're Rei's boyfriend, right?"

Both Ryu and Rei blushed furiously.

"Yukiko-san, how did you... ?" Rei stammered.

Yukiko looked at the two red- faced teenagers and pointed to Matt, who was quite amused.

"Well, he told me while we were on the plane." she said simply, "He said you have always liked each other and that you were together."

Rei and Ryu turned around to Matt, one with a surprised expression and the other with a kind of murderous stare.

"Hey, don't look at me like _that_." he said, smiling, "I mean, it was so obvious... well, I guessed what Rei felt while I knew very well what Ryu's feelings were."

Rei glanced at Ryu who had turned even redder. Conan and Ai seemed to be fighting down a laugh.

"By the way, I didn't guess wrong, did I?" Matt asked teasingly, "You two _are _together, right?"

Still blushing furiously, they both nodded slightly and Matt smirked.

"Well, about time..." he said, smiling.

Ryu shot him a look that seemed to say - Smile until you can because I'll kill you later.- Then, making a mental note not to tell his secrets to Matt anymore, he turned to Conan, Ai, Yukiko and Agase who were still standing by the door.

"Ehm... by the way, he is Kaito Kuroba." he said, pointing to Kaito who was standing close to the window. He approached them and shook hands with the ones he didn't know.

"How did you know that I'd be leaving today?" Conan asked immediately.

Kaito grinned.

"I've been hanging around the Mouri's Detective Agency a few days ago." he said, "And I heard Ran-san tell her friend that Conan-kun was going to leave to America with his parents."

"And, so you decided to show up.." Conan remarked.

"It was quite shocking when we first saw him." Rei said, "You two are extraordinarily alike, Shinichi. It took me a few minutes to notice his hair style and some other small differences."

"We've also talked a bit and I've given him a general idea of who we are and what we're up to." Ryu added, "But I think that we should all sit down and have a decent talk if we want to have everything cleared out."

"Yeah, there are still a couple of things that I'd like to know." Kaito remarked.

"I've got a few questions, too." Matt said.

"Well, I think you'll have to wait another bit then." Conan said, "Haibara and I have to take the antidote before."

As he said this, Ai put her hand in her jacket pocket and drew out a small box, containing two red and white pills: the definitive antidote to the APTX-4869.

"Don't worry, we'll wait. You're members of the team now. Am I right?" she asked, turning to Ryu and Matt who nodded.

Conan and Ai nodded back and turned around, ready to go upstairs to the bedrooms where they had left their bigger clothes, when Yukiko stepped in front of them, holding a camera.

"Mom?" he asked, "_Why_ do you have _that _?"

Yukiko giggled slightly.

"Well, since it's the last time I'll ever see you as Conan, Shin-chan, I thought I could take a photograph of you." she replied simply.

Conan stared at her.

"_You_ want to take a photo of _me_. _Now_?" he asked slowly and looked at his mother as though she had gone mad.

"Yes." she replied happily and backed a few steps, focusing the camera. "Don't you dare move, Shin-chan." she warned him, foreseeing what he was going to do by the look on his face. "By the way, Ai-kun, why don't you stand next to him? Maybe he won't fuss so much if he's not alone."

Ai, taken aback by Yukiko's request, glanced at Conan who had an expression half amused and half pleading. She sighed, giving up and stood next to him.

"Thanks, Haibara." he said, "At least we'll finish soon."

"We'll finish if your mother contents herself of _one _photo." she remarked, "If she starts taking photos in a row, I'm leaving."

"And I'll be following you suite." he said with a smile. Ai smiled slightly too.

Yukiko took advantage of this moment to snap the photo.

"All done." she said, "You two can go upstairs now." She approached them, "You know, I think I'll miss seeing you as a little child, Shin-chan."

Conan let out a derisive snort: he wouldn't miss this small body.

"Well, see you in an hour." he said, following Ai upstairs.

They had arrived in front of the girls' room: Ai put the pill in Conan's palm.

"Well, here we are." she said, "I kept my promise and made the antidote: you'll turn back to yourself now."

"You'll turn back to yourself, too." he pointed out, "Anyway, thank you, Haibara."

He smiled sincerely at her and Ai felt heat on her face.

"It's nothing, Kudo-kun." she said, turning around, "We'd better hurry up: they're all waiting for us."

"Oh.. yes." he said.

Ai was sure that he had already dashed to his room that, when she turned around to close the door, she was quite surprised to find him still standing there and staring at her.

_"Well?_" she asked, "What are you still doing here?"

"What?" he said, "Ehm.. nothing. I was just thinking."

"What about?"

"Well, this is the last time we'll ever see each other in this form."

"Don't tell me you're going to miss being a small kid." Ai remarked, smirking slightly.

"NO. It's just that.. well... ok, maybe I'll miss it." Conan stammered but shook his head after a few seconds "Forget what I've been saying. See you later."

He headed to Ryu's room.

_"Goodbye, Edogawa-kun."_

Conan turned around and saw Ai, staring at him with a small smile on her face. He smiled slightly.

"Goodbye, Haibara." he said and, as she closed her door, he went in the room and closed the door behind him.

He looked around the room and saw the chair where he had left a pair of jeans and a light blue shirt. He walked the bed and sat on its edge: he took off his high-powered shoes.

'I won't be needing them anymore.' he thought, putting them near the bedside table.

He got up and took off the stun-gun wristwatch, the voice changing bow-tie and, at the end, his glasses. He put them all on the side table and then, got up again. He crossed the room, opened the wardrobe and looked into the mirror on the inside of the door. A familiar seven year old boy was looking back at him. He put his hand in his pocket and drew out the pill.

"Well, Conan…" he said, "Your adventure is over: I've got to come back.."

He took the pill and glanced one last time into the mirror.

"Farewell, Conan Edogawa…" he said and lied on the bed, waiting for his body to change and get back to normal.

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Light blue eyes slowly opened and the girl got up with a hand on her head as she tried to shake off the dizziness. She was sitting on her bed when the pain had started and she must have lied down when she fainted. She looked down at herself and a small smile appeared on her face.

"It has worked." she said, "I am myself again."

She quickly put on the clothes that she had prepared: a pair of black trousers and a white blouse.

She got up and looked into the mirror inside the wardrobe.

"Good thing Rei and I have the same size." she said, looking down at the clothes she was wearing, "However, I've got to buy some garments: I can't keep on borrowing her clothes for ever."

She then, focused her attention to her reflection: a young girl was looking back at her with a cool expression and a haughty smile.

"Welcome back, Shiho Miyano." she said softly, "Or should I say Sherry?"

Shiho looked into the mirror for another few seconds, then she shut the wardrobe's door. She walked to her table and put on her flashlight watch.

'It's a good watch, after all.' she thought, 'And it might be useful.'

As she left the room, she closed the door behind her and was ready to go downstairs, wondering what they would have discussed, when….

"_Seems that I've been faster to come around this time."_

Shiho looked around.

A young boy was leaning on the wall, close to the staircase: short dark brown hair that stuck out in the back, cobalt blue eyes, tall, well built figure. Definitely handsome dressed all in blue. Shiho felt her stomach do a back-flip.

"When did you come around, Kudo-kun?" she asked approaching him.

"Hardly ten minutes ago." Shinichi replied, straightening up.

"Why are you still here then? You could have gone downstairs."

"Well, I waited for you. I _am_ a gentleman, even though it might not seem so."

Shiho smirked.

"I never doubted it." she said sarcastically.

Shinichi grimaced at her.

"Shall we go then, Miyano?" he said and stepped aside to allow Shiho go first. He flashed his trademark smile and Shiho felt her heart melt like an ice cube. She managed to nod with a small smile and they went downstairs. Ryu, Matt and Kaito were waiting for them near the stairs.

Matt and Kaito stared at Shiho as she descended the stairs and Shinichi, noticing it, scowled darkly. Ryu that was watching, couldn't help but smile.

"Welcome back Shiho and Shinichi." he said, "We thought we could talk better in the lab: Rei's already there. Come on."

"Where my mother and Professor?" Shinichi asked as they went in the lab and looking around.

"Professor's in the kitchen." Ryu answered, "I don't know where your mother is."

"Yukiko-san said that she had some… business to do before leaving." Rei said, arranging some chairs around her desk, "Don't ask me what she had to do because I don't know."

"Great.." Shinichi muttered.

"Anyway, I think we should get started." Matt said, sitting on a chair, "There are lots of things we have to work out and we have to do everything before night. Mrs Kudo and I have the plane at seven o'clock (pm)."

"Didn't you come here with a private plane?" Ryu asked, sitting at his desk.

"Yes, but I've got to be at work tomorrow: if we leave later I'll never be at the headquarters in time and, you know, it would be a bit suspicious if I didn't show up after my suspension. Anyway, Mrs Kudo said that it was all right for her."

"Well, let's start then." Rei said, as everyone sat down, "We don't have to waste time."

Everyone nodded.

The final stage of the plan was going to start.

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Hello, everyone! I hope you didn't have to wait too much but the updates have finally come. I just hope my computer won't break down again. Anyway, I hope you'll like the story's further chapters: I think it will get more interesting…

REVIEW!

Bye.

P.S: Small mistakes and corrections have been made.


	19. MYSTERY: final stage

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Detective Conan.

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR Chapter 18: MYSTERY: final stage.

"Listen, before starting anything…" Kaito said, as everyone had settled down, "Why don't you explain me _exactly_ what are you all up to and, most of all, who you _really_ are? You've just given me a general idea till now: Kazama, Ikeda and Xanders are FBI agents, Miyano is a scientist and, well, Kudo is a detective."

"Fair point." Matt remarked and he turned to Ryu, "Come on, tell him the story otherwise he won't understand what's going on."

Ryu nodded and began to tell Kaito everything about Matt, Rei, Shinichi, Shiho and himself.

-

"Let's see if I can summarize everything." Kaito said slowly, after having listened carefully, "More than a year ago, a young woman showed up and asked you to help her. She addressed herself, especially to Kazama. She talked about the existence of a big underground criminal organisation involved in all kinds of activities but she couldn't give you more information because she was just a simple agent. She asked you a favour: help her younger sister get out from this organisation." Kaito turned to Shiho, "It was you. You used to work for the Organisation as a scientist: you're the one that made the pill that shrank Kudo. But you left after they killed your sister and took the pill yourself." Shiho nodded and the young magician went on, turning to the three FBI agents. "You three work out a plan to bring the Organisation down, shortly after you met Miyano-san: Kazama infiltrates into it and gets out information, Ikeda works them out, Xanders keeps an eye on the whole situation. You found out a great deal of things but months ago they found out Kazama's real identity and your plan shattered. Now, Kazama's wanted by the Organisation and FBI because they think he's a traitor, Ikeda's thought dead, suicidal, Miyano is wanted by the Org. as a traitor and Kudo is thought dead by the poison. However, three months ago, you four met each other and decided to collaborate and you worked out all the material Kazama had taken from the Organisation. You also met one of its members but you managed to escape. And that's all, right?"

"Yes, that's all." Rei remarked, "For now at least… Matt? Something wrong?"

Matt was staring at Ryu and her.

"I suppose you two have forgotten to mention in your e-mails that you have met Scotch and that you nearly got killed by him." he said coolly.

"Ehm…. It's not that." Ryu said uncomfortably, "We just thought it was better to inform you personally than through e-mails."

"Anyway, did anyone see you?" Matt asked, "Anyone noticed that you were there or something?"

"The only people that know we four were there are the doctor and the nurses that treated us." the other replied, "They promised they wouldn't have told anyone we had been in their surgery and they didn't, actually. Shinichi controlled."

"Yes, the police doesn't have any evidences that there was someone in the woods that day besides Scotch." Shinichi said, "They're still working on it since they found his body tied to a tree and shot at the head."

"Well, you're lucky you found some sensible people.." Matt remarked, "I don't think that anyone would have helped four strangers with gun shot wounds when the police was investigating on a murderer."

"Yeah, we were lucky." Ryu agreed, "By the way, Matt, we've told you everything: why don't you tell us what has been going on in USA? You said that there have been murders and disappearances."

Matt straightened up and looked at them with a serious face.

"Yes, strange things have been going on." he said, "Several scientists vanished in thin air and many police officers and small criminals have been killed.… Wait a minute, I've brought my notes. You'll understand better."

He got up and went out of the lab, returning a few seconds later with a small backpack. "I've brought all the things you have asked me." he said, sitting down and opening the bag, "But I'll give it to you later… Anyway, here it is."

He drew out a notebook and handed it to Ryu. Rei, Shinichi, Shiho and Kaito approached him as he opened it. The notebook was full of notes and newspaper cuttings.

"I've put them all in time order." Matt said, as he watched Ryu turn the notebook's pages, "I'm quite sure the Organisation is behind this, even though I have to admit that I'd have expected something more secretive by them."

Shiho nodded as he said this.

"You're right. It's not in their.. style to act so freely." she said, "Without bothering to be noticed."

"I've been thinking the same in the beginning but then I changed idea looking at the dates.."

"The _dates_?" Shinichi asked puzzled.

They all looked at the cuttings' dates: Kaito, Shinichi and Shiho didn't see anything strange but Rei and Ryu did.

"Oh my…" he said, "The first murder happened the day I escaped from the Organisation. Look here: local police officer, Agent J. Adam, found dead in his house…. The investigators supposes that it might be an act of revenge from a criminal the victim could have arrested." Ryu looked up at Matt. "Listen, why do you think _they're _involved in this case? You know that some criminals threaten the ones that arrest them and they also manage to kill them sometimes."

"Read the next article." Matt said as an answer and Ryu did so.

"Case of suicidal: S. Boyd, known to the police as a bank burglar, has been found dead….." Ryu read, scanning the article, " The officers have found a gun near the crime scene… the victim's fingerprints…. It's supposed that Boyd has probably murdered Agent Adam….. because he had arrested him an year ago… Boyd was sentenced to four months in prison…wait a minute this happened two days after the first murder."

Ryu stopped and looked at the others that had a sceptical look.

"Well, it _does_ sound odd." Shinichi said, "And the investigations seem to have been closed pretty soon without further verifications."

"Yes, that's what I thought, too, so I did a few researches on my own." Matt said, drawing out another notebook from his backpack.

"What do you mean?" Rei asked.

"I checked out Adam's and Boyd's past." Matt said, "I rummaged through FBI's and local polices' judicial archives and found out a few things. Boyd's story is true: he's the usual burglar, involved in small crimes. Adam's story, instead, is more interesting: according to what his colleagues say, he was a model officer with a great career in front of him. Quite a good fellow even though he was ambitious, _very_ ambitious. Since he didn't seem suspicious at work, I checked out his private life and there were many problems in it. Money, in first place: seems that he had many debts and, from what I've seen looking at his credit cards receipts, bank accounts and tax payments, he didn't have a way to pay. Then, here comes the surprise, one day he pays everything. I checked his bank account and found that someone had made a deposit of 10 0000 dollars."

"Where did _that_ come from?" Kaito asked with surprise.

"No idea. I checked everything: bank loans and other things like that but nothing. I also checked if he had won money at a lottery or if some relative had left him money but no." Matt said sarcastically, "That money just _appeared_ in his bank account."

Rei looked at Matt: she had understood where he was getting at.

"You think somebody corrupted him?" she asked.

"Yes, that's what I think." he said, nodding at her, "I've found out that Adams last work was to control all the airports' passengers' lists: you know, to see if a criminal was on a plane headed who knows where and avoiding capture. Now, what I've been thinking is, what if…?"

"What if the Organisation has taken him to their side to check all the planes and see if I was there?" Ryu said sceptically, "Well, it seems a bit far-fetched to me. I mean, why choose this agent instead of others? How could he have controlled alone all the passengers' lists of all the planes in the airports of New York? It's too much work for one person."

"Who said Adams was the only one working for them?" Matt said, looking up at him.

The other five teenagers stared at him.

"_What?_" they said.

Matt looked at them with an eyebrow raised.

"What do you think I've been doing in all these months?" he asked, "Since the day Ryu sent that message telling that there was a double-crosser, I've been working restlessly to find out who it is."

"And did you find out?" Shinichi asked eagerly.

"Yes, I have a few suspects but the point is that it's not one double-crosser." Matt remarked, "There are lots more and nearly in every police department and FBI headquarter in New York."

That simple statement silenced the room.

"Well, we knew that." Rei said, after a while, "They played with Ryu when he was at the Organisation making him think that they believed him while they only wanted to know who was behind MYSTERY and block him down."

Ryu nodded.

"How can you be so sure that all your.. suspects are related to the Organisation, Matt?" he asked, "If we count all the police and FBI headquarters in New York, you're considering at least twenty-thirty agents."

"Well, at the beginning I didn't have a clue of how to find the double-crosser." he replied, straightening up, "I decided to check out the archives and see if I could find something: I looked up for all the new agents that have been recruited in the last year but I didn't find anything. Then, Adams was found dead and that's when I got an idea… First of all, which are the ways to corrupt?"

"Money or threatens." Shinichi said quickly.

Shiho looked at him with amazement.

"How do you know _that_?" she asked.

"It's always like that in my cases." he said, shrugging.

"Exactly." Matt said, "I decided to go on this way and I checked out all the archives again and I did researches the same way I did to find out Adams' story and.."

"Wait a second.." Ryu stopped him, "Didn't you say that you were going through an inquiry? How did you do all of this without being seen?"

"Well, it seems that a certain person has managed to influence me because I've learnt to act pretty well, too." Matt said with a smirk, "I worked at the FBI headquarter at night while I went to check out all the other departments archives during the day but not as an agent but as a lawyer."

"So, you fooled them." Ryu said with a grin.

"Come on, I've got to use that degree in law, right?" Matt said, "Anyway, I've been doing this work nearly everyday after Rei left and I finished only a month ago but I've got a list of suspects and I'm having them controlled."

"Controlled?" Rei asked.

"Yes, why…? Oh, yeah, you two don't know. Well, I talked to Dad about my suspects and he decided to use his men to follow them."

"Wait a minute, you mean that your father's squad knows about MYSTERY?" Ryu asked.

"Yes, we had to tell them otherwise, they wouldn't have understood _why_ they had to follow other agents. Don't worry." Matt said, seeing the looks on the others' face, "I've double checked every single member of Dad's team and none of them can be suspected: they're all very trustworthy and they've been working with my Dad for years. He knows them all very well."

"Ok, then." Ryu said.

"By the way, coming back to the murders." Matt remarked, "If you go on reading the newspaper cuttings on that notebook, you'll see that all the murdered were either police agents or small criminals. And, guess what, all the dead agents must have been double-crossers."

"So the Organisation has silenced them all." Shiho said quietly, "What were they paid for?"

"Let's see, I've written it down." Matt opened the notebook he had in his hands and flicked through the pages, "Here it is: well, nearly all of them sold out information while the others helped some criminals avoid jail. I've checked them out: they were all great agents but some fell down for money while the others were threatened. If you go to the last pages, there's an article about a FBI agent that got killed in action."

Ryu flipped the pages and when he came to the page, his eyes widened.

"I know him." he said, "Didn't he work with the drug squad?"

"Yes, I remember him, too." Rei said, peering at the article, "I think his name was… Madison."

"Jason Madison, one of the drug squad's best agents." Matt remarked, "I think the Organisation threatened him since they couldn't buy him with money: I found out that his wife and daughter had been kidnapped nearly two months ago. That's why he gave them the information they asked: he hoped to save his family but it was useless. They found their bodies in an old abandoned car shortly after Madison got killed.."

There was a stunned silence in the room. Shinichi turned to look at the others and saw the expression of pure hatred on Shiho, Rei, Ryu and Kaito's face.

"Anyway, all the other double-crossers, or suspected double-crossers, are being followed." Matt said, "In this we should avoid other murders."

"Wait, what are the criminals got to do with this?" Rei asked, "Do you think they're also involved with the Organisation?"

It was Shiho that answered.

"I don't think they can be agents or even members." she said, "They have been caught by the police many times, from what I've understood. The Organisation wouldn't have permitted these kinds of mistakes."

"You're right, Shiho." Ryu remarked, "I think it's more probable that they got killed only because they were related to the dead agents."

"In other words, they were the perfect culprits." Shinichi said, "And they all had reasons to murder the victims."

"You know, I have to admit that it's a perfect plan." Matt remarked, "Devilish but really subtle."

Ryu turned another few pages of the notebook and an article caught his eye.

"What about the disappearances?" he asked, "You figured out everything about the murders but what about the disappearances?"

"Well, I hoped you would have told me something about it." Matt remarked, "The only thing I know is that the missing were all scientists. They are seven in total: five computer scientists and two chemists."

Shiho looked up in alarm.

"Chemists?" she asked.

Shinichi turned around and saw her concerned face.

"What do you think?" he asked, "Do you believe they're going to…?"

"They might want to carry on with the APTX's research." she said, nodding, "That would explain why they kidnapped two new chemists."

"What about the other scientists?" Matt asked, "They are all computer scientists and all talented."

"Well, while I was still infiltrated, I noticed that most of the scientists were involved in a big project." Ryu said, "I don't know what it was about but it must be something important because it involved all the best scientists."

"You don't know what it is?" Matt said, "It's not even mentioned in that files you have taken?"

"Well, reading all the files, we can find some hints regarding this project but nothing too definite." Rei said, getting up, "Anyway, since we're talking about the files now, there are a few things I'd like to ask you, Kuroba."

Kaito looked up and nodded: he knew that he would have had to give an explanation sooner or later.

"Sure, what do you want to know?" he asked.

"Just a moment…" she said, opening a drawer in her desk, "Ryu, Shiho, Shinichi and I have worked on the files for months and we know, more or less, what they say but you and Matt don't, so.."

She took out an enormous stack of printed-paper. Matt stared at it.

"What _that_?" he asked, "It's higher than three encyclopaedias put together! How many pages are there? 1000 or more?"

"987, to be exact. I've printed all the files since I know that you're hopeless with computers." Rei said and hid a smile, "Have a good time reading, Matt."

Ryu, Shinichi, Shiho and Kaito stifled a laugh as they saw the look on Matt's face.

"Well, seems that I've found something to do during the flight." he said, not very enthusiastically, "And I was hoping I could sleep a bit before going back to work…"

Rei smiled again at Matt and turned to her side.

"Anyway, coming back to you, Kuroba, we decided to get you involved because we found you mentioned in a few files." she said, turning her laptop on, "One of eight years ago and in a more recent one, too."

"In the beginning, we didn't know if we could consider you an ally or an enemy." Ryu added, "That's why we decided to take it slow."

"I see." Kaito said, "That's why Kudo came to talk with me, then."

"My work was to wait until you showed up, talk to you and figure out if you were related to the Organisation." Shinichi said, "Since I thought you were trustworthy, I told you everything."

Kaito smirked.

'A thief defined trustworthy by a detective?' he thought amused.

"Anyway, how did you find out my identity?" he asked, "Don't tell me it's written in the files too?"

"No, don't worry." Ryu said, "You're only mentioned as Kid."

"Then, how….?" Kaito asked again but Rei stopped him.

"I'll explain immediately..." she said, "Matt, turn to page.. ehm.. 54… Yes, that's when Kaito Kid is first mentioned."

As Matt carefully turned the pages, Shinichi found the file on his computer and let Ryu look at it while Shiho peered in Rei's screen. Kaito leaned towards Matt as he found he page: it was a short page, mainly formed by dates, and short paragraphs.

"As you can see, it's referred to events happened eight years ago. I'll summarize the important facts, all right?" Rei said, " Retrieval of hypothetical _Pandora_ failed due to Phantom Thief Kid's interference. Despite the researches, his identity is still unknown. Now, skip two paragraphs….. New attempt of finding _Pandora_. Mission accomplished partially: the object is not the requested one, however, the subject of interference has been located. Kid's identity is known: silenced without witnesses and without being exposed.."

Rei stopped and looked at Kaito: she could see the familiar glint of anger and sorrow in his eyes.

"Kuroba?" she asked, after a while, "Are you all right?"

Kaito looked up and nodded: he could see understanding in her eyes but also in Ryu and Shiho's eyes too. He remembered their stories.

'They have lost their families.' he thought, 'They have suffered even more than me: I've still got my mother.'

"Well, it was obvious that the Kid mentioned here couldn't be you, so we decided to do a few researches." Rei resumed, "It was Shinichi that came up with the right guess: if it wasn't for his great memory, we would be still researching."

"Kudo?" Kaito asked, turning to him.

"Well, I remembered that ten years ago the Master Magician Kuroba Toichi died in what appeared to be an accident. The case was closed immediately because everyone thought it had been an a accident."

"We checked out the dates and found out that Toichi Kuroba died the same day Kid did." Rei added, "It didn't take us much to figure out that they were the same person: there were too many similarities between them to be a coincidence."

"So, you found out about my Dad in this way." Kaito said, "How did you come up to me?"

"We found out that Toichi Kuroba had a son: _you_." Ryu remarked, "We initially guessed that you could have taken your father's role but we had to be sure, so we went on working on the files until we found one referred to you." He opened another file on the screen, "Page 839, Matt."

As soon as he found the page, Ryu went on.

"This has been written more or less an year ago." he said, "Different attempts of retrieving _Pandora_ have failed, due to the agents' ineptitude and to the interference of Phantom Thief Kid. Suspects of his identity but still no certainty. Subject must be silenced."

There was a uncomfortable silence in the room as the last statement sank in.

"Well, Kuroba, after having read this file, our suspects that you could be Kid increased. If the Organisation had suspects it meant that they were thinking what we were: Toichi Kuroba's son, Kaito was the new Phantom Thief Kid. " Ryu said, "We decided to contact you as soon as possible to figure out the truth and warn you."

"Wait a minute, you mean that you weren't sure that I was Kid?" Kaito asked.

Shinichi smiled mischievously.

"It was like making a bet." he said, "Once I had seen that you weren't an enemy, I just told you everything and waited. Your reaction was enough to tell me that Kid and Kuroba are the same person."

"So, you just fooled me, didn't you?" Kaito asked, frowning slightly.

"Yes." Shinichi replied promptly and the others smiled, seeing Kaito's face. It was a weird to see Shinichi and Kaito bickering: it was like watching two Shinichis teasing themselves.

"Anyway, Kuroba." Rei said, after a while, "There a few things I… we would like to know."

Kaito straightened up and nodded.

"First: did you know of the Organisation's existence?" she asked.

"No, I've never heard of them until my talk with Kudo." he answered.

"But you knew that someone was after you, right?" Shinichi asked, "You quickly changed subject when I asked you last time."

"Well, there's not much to say." Kaito said, "I knew immediately that Dad's death was not an accident: he had been murdered and, pretty cleverly too, since they made it look like an accident during his magical performance. Anyway, the ones that killed him now want me because I'm interfering with their plans as Dad did."

"They're looking for.. _Pandora_, right?" Ryu remarked, "And you're after it, too. What is it, anyway? A jewel or something?"

"_Pandora_ is the mystic red gem within a gem that was thought to be visible under the moon's light and cries tears of immortality during a comet's pass." Kaito recited, "That's what the legend says." But seeing the blank expression on the others face he went on. "These people and I are looking for a certain jewel. If you hold it up to the moonlight, a holy gem inside will glow red. This holy gem can shed tears that can make a man immortal."

A blank silence greeted Kaito's words.

"That's ridiculous." Shinichi retorted, "You can't make someone immortal."

Kaito turned to him.

"They've killed my father and are willing to kill me for it." Kid said sharply, "Ridiculous enough for you?"

Ryu, Rei, Shiho and Shinichi looked at each other: Kaito had a good point. Matt turned to him.

"Let me get this straight.." he said, "The Organisation is after this jewel, _Pandora_, and your father first and you now are looking for it, too. But it seems that no one knows which stone is the right one, right?"

"No and that's why I… Kid's after all the precious stones: I want to find it before them."

"And what will happen when you find it?" Ryu asked.

"It's obvious: I'll destroy it into bits." Kaito said. Seeing the others surprised looks, he smiled, "But, so far, I've had no luck."

"Do you know who killed your father?" Rei asked.

"I found the man who killed Dad and part of their gang. I thought they were just a small part of an even bigger group and it seems that I've guessed right."

"When did you catch them?" Shinichi asked, interested.

"Nearly an year ago." he replied, "Handed them to Aoko's Dad."

"To _who_?"

"Oh, Inspector Nakamori." Kaito explained, "He's the one in charge to catch me and Aoko is a… friend of mine."

"Yeah, you two are friends like Ryu and Rei." Matt muttered and Kaito turned red. Rei couldn't help to notice the Kaito's likeness with Shinichi in this reaction.

Shiho, in the meanwhile, seemed to be completely lost in her thoughts and it didn't take much for Shinichi to notice it.

"Miyano?" he asked, "Something wrong?"

She turned to him with a thoughtful expression and his heart skipped a beat as their eyes met.

"No, it's just.. I was thinking…" she replied slowly. She then reformulated her thoughts, "Well, I was thinking what the Organisation is up to."

"Do you mean that secret project they're working on?" he asked tentatively.

"Yes, but not only that.."

"What is there objective?" Ryu asked, "What is the Organisation's real aim?"

He had overheard them and smiled slightly as Shinichi and Shiho turned to him.

"That was what you were thinking, right Shiho?" he asked and she nodded.

Ryu got up and walked to the window.

"The Black Organisation is involved in corruption, thefts, receiving of stolen properties, murders and other sorts of crimes, like other criminal groups. " he said, looking out of the window, "But this one is different. They're interested in scientific researches. They try to bring on their side all the talented scientists: especially chemists and computer scientists." He turned around to face the others who had been listening to his words. A frown creased his face. "The point is _why_ do they need all these scientists?"

No one answered him, until…

_"We can be both God and the devil since we're trying to raise the dead against the stream of time"_

It was Shinichi that spoke and he looked up as the others turned to him.

"I've already told you this. Anyway, during a case, I found a computer disk belonging to a murdered computer programmer that had diary entries relating to the Black Org." he said, "When Agase and I read the disk, we discovered that the programmer was forced to work for the organisation -Tequila was his first contact and later he spoke to a woman on the phone- I think, probably, Vermouth. When the programmer asked her about the purpose of the program he was developing, she said these words: We can be both God and the devil since we're trying to raise the dead against the stream of time. Now if we think about it for a moment…"

"God and the devil…. "Rei said slowly, "Good and evil… but, maybe, also…"

"Life and death." Ryu added, "And this would mean…"

"_Pandora_ and the APTX-4869." Shiho completed.

"Exactly." Shinichi remarked, "Immortality and instant death."

Kaito looked at the four with a point of amazement: they seemed to read the others mind and reason in the same way. However, as soon as their words sank in, his eyes widened in shock: he had understood what they meant and if the Organisation's aim was really that…

The room fell silent.

Matt looked up, after a while.

"Miyano?" he said suddenly, "And you too, Ryu."

Ryu and Shiho looked at him, wondering what he wanted.

"Listen, you two are the only ones that have been actually _in_ the Organisation." Matt said, "Miyano has been working here in Japan while Ryu in America. Can you give me an idea of what you did there? What was your and the others work?"

Shiho and Ryu glanced at each other and noticed that the others were curious to know what they had really done in the Organisation too. It was Shiho that started.

"I was in the scientific research group and was working on a chemical, medic-poison project: the APTX-4869." she said quietly, "It's a poison… well, it should be the perfect poison: always efficacious, immediate operation and traceless in blood testing …"

"Well, it seems like something went wrong…" Matt remarked, "I mean, you and Kudo are still alive and you took the poison."

"We two are a…. _particular _case. The APTX has been used other times and it worked: all the deaths have been confirmed."

Shiho's heartbeat had doubled in a few seconds time: she was reviving in her mind all the months she had spent in the Organisation's lab, working on the poison. She was responsible of many peoples' death: she wasn't different from the Organisation's members.

Matt glanced at her.

Maybe it was for the fact that he had lived with Ryu for many years, but he could immediately understand when a person felt guilty. And Shiho was feeling like that now.

"Hey, don't worry. You're not the one to blame for those deaths." he said quickly and she looked up at him, clearly surprised, "You were forced to work for them: you didn't make that poison on your own will, did you? And besides that, you left the Organisation and are helping to bring it down. Anyone could see that you're not a criminal." He turned to the others. "Am I right?"

Kaito, Ryu and Shinichi nodded.

"We've been always saying that." Rei said.

"And by the way, I know laws pretty well since I'm a lawyer besides being an FBI agent." Matt added, grinning slightly, "So you can believe me. I'm not lying, Miyano."

Shiho smiled slightly at him and nodded.

"Anyway, going on.." she said, "I don't know where the Organisation's headquarter is: I've been working in a lab hidden in an old pharmaceutical building since I finished my studies in America. I was the only chemist there: there were four… no five computer scientists and a few high members that came over every now and then to keep an eye on us."

"Which members?" Matt asked, "Can you give me a few names?"

"Gin, Vodka and Shuichi Akai." she replied, feeling hatred wash her as she thought of them.

"So, you don't know where the Japanese headquarter is?"

Shiho shook her head and Matt turned to Ryu.

"What about you?" he asked.

"The Organisation's headquarter is in New York." Ryu said, "I've heard it's a large place: something like a building with five floors. If I'm not wrong, they said as a cover, that it's a research institute. I've never been there: they didn't trust me enough to take me there but the lab where I was working was close to it. I'm sure of that: there were always many high members coming around. Vermouth (Rei frowns slightly), Gin and Vodka, when they were there and other ones I didn't know. Anyway, I was in the second scientific group: computer technology and programming. There were many scientists there: I counted about fifteen computer scientists, three engineers.. no four, I was one, too. That's all."

Matt nodded. Just then, they noticed that he was writing everything on his notebook.

"Matt, you're taking notes?" Ryu asked.

"Yeah, I want to know.. well, I want to have an idea of who we're fighting against." he said, looking up, "You five have already faced them and it seems that I'll be facing them soon." He scribbled another thing on his notebook and put it away. "I knew that the Organisation was dangerous. Besides the crimes, like theft and corruption, they kill and murder as if nothing was the matter and you guys know it better than me.. However, I've been thinking that their only purpose was getting powerful, rich or something like that. That was my first thought, when I found out about the programmers. It was kind of obvious, right?"

Rei nodded.

"Yes, it would have been natural." she said, "Computer scientists are always useful: nearly everything nowadays works or deals with computers. The Organisation could use them to force systems such as police archives or many other top-secret data containers. However, a couple of talented programmers are enough for that. I mean, they've got more than twenty scientists at their side: they're too many for a… simple project."

Matt straightened up and looked at her.

"Ok, let's suppose, since we don't have any concrete evidence, that the Organisation's secret project is to… ehm… act as God? Can I define it like that?" he asked, "Anyway, they want something that ends life instantly without leaving traces, and so they asked.. forced Miyano to make that poison. Fortunately, she left before having finished its making.."

"Well, if they have asked someone else to carry on my work, the APTX will be finished pretty soon." Shiho cut him, "It has worked a few times when it was still experimental and if they find out what's wrong with it, they'll have the perfect poison soon."

"That doesn't sound good." Ryu said, "By the way, do you know what was the error, right?"

"Yes, I figured it out thanks to the data you gave me." she replied, "That's how I got the antidote."

"Anyway, as I was saying.." Matt continued, "They want something to kill, besides weapons, so they want this poison. They want something to reach immortality, so they want that gem, _Pandora_. My question is: what do the computer scientists got to do with this?"

A blank silence greeted his words. No one knew what to say or think of.

Only Rei was lost in her thoughts and then, she got it.

"Simulations.." she said.

The others stared at her.

"Come again?"

"They probably want some certitudes that _Pandora's_ miraculous substance works." she said, "Or maybe they're trying to find a different combination of elements that can make that substance."

As the others stared at her, Kaito was the first to speak.

"You mean, they're trying to find a way to reach immortality without finding the gem?" he asked.

It was Ryu that replied.

"I think it's a kind of second plan." he said, "In case they don't get Pandora or if you, Kid, find it before. They want to create _Pandora's_ tears artificially."

"In other words, they're trying to make an.. elixir of eternal life." Matt said, raising an eyebrow, "Well, the alchemists had tried to do something like that centuries ago. How can the Organisation be sure to get what they want? And would you mind explaining me what the computer scientists have got to do with this?"

"It's pretty simple." Rei said, "They want to make this elixir, as you called, but they don't know which elements can make it. They have to make hundreds… no, thousands of experiments to find out and they can't do it in the normal way, with test tubes and everything in a lab: it would take too much time. The best way is to simulate all the experiments with computers: at least, if you make a mistake, you don't have to start everything from the beginning but just modify one program."

"So, the Organisation needs all the scientists to make these simulations." Matt said.

"Yes, and since they've kidnapped so many more in the past months, I suppose they want to get the results pretty soon." Rei remarked.

"Well, this means that we have to hurry up to bring them down, right?" Matt said, getting up, "Come on, we've got to come up with the last bit of the plan soon. That's the main reason we're all here, so let's get started."

Ryu smiled. Matt never changed: he was always eager to do things quickly.

"You already have a plan?" Kaito asked.

"Well, it's the one we made more than a year ago." Ryu explained, approaching the others and leaning on the wall, "First, the information: I had to take them out, being the infiltrate, Rei had to work them out and Matt had to.. well, he has the tough job.."

"What do you have to do?" Shiho asked.

"I have to verify if all the information is true, checking all the police archives." Matt replied, "And only after my checking, we can go on with the final act."

"Bring the Organisation down." Shinichi said, "Well, how will we do it?"

Ryu came over and sat down on his chair while the others straightened up on their own chairs: this was the most important moment of their meeting and nobody wanted to loose a word.

It was Matt that started.

"Ok, I think there are a few points to clear out before. It seems that I'm always the one that gives out warnings and everything, isn't it?" he said, looking up at Rei and Ryu who smiled.

Matt was a year elder than them and he had always been very protective. Now, that Shinichi, Shiho and Kaito had joined the team, they knew that his sense of protection would have extended to them, too.

"Anyway, the Organisation knows about MYSTERY. The double-crossers have probably told them everything, after you disappeared, Ryu. They know that you escaped with information regarding them, they know that you are an FBI agent and they're probably waiting that you'll come out to damage them."

"Well, I knew that already." Ryu replied, "That's why they want me dead, remember?"

Matt ignored Ryu's sarcasm and went on.

"I don't think your situation is different, Miyano: you worked for them and know many things about the Organisation. I _know_ that they want you dead too. So, till now, they want two of us. Now, we come to Rei and Kudo.."

"They think I've killed myself." Rei said, "Everyone thinks so."

"And they _I_ am dead because of the poison." Shinichi remarked.

To their surprise, Matt shook his head.

"That's the point: they _think_ you two are dead and I don't think they'll accept only a hypothesis." he said, "From what I've understood, there is a possibility that the Organisation knows about the poison's.. ehm.. contraindication. Kudo, your body has not been found and you said that Vermouth had suspects about your identity when you were a kid. Let's say that she wants to carry on her suspects and asks the new chemists to see if it's really possible to shrink with the poison. Miyano, do you think the other chemists can find this out?"

"Well, it possible." Shiho admitted, "But it also depends on their ability."

"So, if these two chemists are good, they could find out that Kudo and also you have turned into kids." Matt said, "Well, I don't know if it's a good news that you have turned back to your normal bodies: the Organisation might be looking for you."

Ryu looked at Matt with a strange expression.

'Why is he telling us all this?' he thought, 'We know that we're wanted by the Organisation: we know that they want us dead. Then, why is telling us something so... Unless..'

Ryu got up so quickly that the others jumped, and turned to Matt.

"Matt, don't even _think_ of doing that." he said sharply.

"Of doing what?" Matt asked simply. He knew that Ryu had understood: lying was useless.

"You want to keep us out. You know that we are in danger and that we're on the Organisation's wanted list. Well, we know that ourselves. " Ryu said, "And with –we- I mean, Rei, Shinichi, Shiho and myself. Kuroba is still safe because the Organisation doesn't know him. So, have I guessed right or wrong?"

The initial surprise at Ryu's behaviour had changed into sharp looks at Matt: Rei, Shinichi and Shiho were staring at him and Matt noticed it.

"Listen, I don't want to keep you out." he said uncomfortably, nearly feeling the intensity of their stares, "The point is that you four have been exposed too much and.."

"Matt, I know that you're a lawyer and you always try to sort things out with diplomacy." Rei cut him, "But for once, just come to the point without trying to find the right words."

The boy looked at her and nodded.

"All right, then." he said to her, "I'll tell you what's up. Before leaving America, Dad talked to me: he said that I had to try to keep you and Ryu out of any plan we were going to work out. He thought that you two were more in danger than me since you have been working in the forefront. I've always been keeping in the background. He asked me to convince you to let him, his squad and me work out the last part of the plan."

"_What_?" Ryu and Rei exclaimed together. They were both going to say something else when Matt stopped them with his hand.

"I said that he _asked_ me to convince you. He didn't say to do it really, did he?" he said smiling mischievously, "And I did what he asked me to do. My conscience is ok." He nearly laughed out as he saw the looks on his friends' faces, but he managed to keep a straight face and went on. "Anyway, I have to admit that Dad was right on a point: you two… well, you four, are lots more in danger than the others that are involved in MYSTERY. The Organisation knows who you are, what you have done and, since _you_ know nearly as much about them, they want you dead."

"Matt, I understand that you and your father are worried about us but.." Rei started.

"But we know the risks we are going against." Ryu finished, "We've always known that; since the day we decided to start this plan, I knew that it would have been dangerous but I want to go on anyway, and I think Rei, Shinichi and Shiho are as determined as I am. Right?"

"Sure." Shinichi said, "I'm not giving up now."

"Neither am I." Shiho remarked, "I want to see the Organisation brought down."

"Me too." Rei said, "Matt, we appreciate yours and your father's concern but we are all for it. We will keep on working to bring the Organisation down."

"And don't even try to pull us out of it." Ryu added.

Matt looked at them with a mingled expression of amusement and exasperation.

"I thought I had met the two most stubborn and foolish people in the world when I met you two." he said, pointing to Ryu and Rei, "But it seems that I've got to change my mind: Kudo and Miyano are cast in your same mould. It was obvious that you four would have got along well.."

The four in question smiled sheepishly as he said this.

"Ehm… what about me?" Kaito asked, "I know that I'm the new one here, but now that I know what you're up to, I want to join in, too."

Matt nodded.

"Fine for me and, since they called you, it must be fine for them, too." he said, "So, everything has been sorted out. Let's get started."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ran was alone at home.

Kogoroh had gone out with Inspector Megure shortly after Conan had left.

'Conan-kun…' she thought. She got up from her bed and headed to his room. Her heart gave a lurch as she saw that the room was empty: there weren't novels scattered on the table along with comics, there wasn't the soccer ball in the corner and all his things.

'He left only a couple of hours ago and I already miss him as though he had gone for days. I know he won't come back. His mother and father will want him with them. He won't come back here anymore. He won't come back to me anymore. First Shinichi and then him…'

Ran shook her head. She was doing it again: comparing Conan to Shinichi.

'I can't do that.' she thought, 'Conan-kun has always been there for me: he always comforted me and cheered me up. I can't compare him to Shinichi. Shinichi that… gave me false hopes and then rejected my feelings.'

Tears were about to fall down her cheeks but she managed to fight them back.

She was not going to cry for that: she had promised it to herself. She promised that she wouldn't have cried on what had happened with Shinichi weeks ago. She had to react and…fight.

'He said he'll be back in a few weeks…' she thought, 'I don't want to go to his house… I'll probably meet him at school… I'll find a way to talk to him and, maybe, everything will go well.'

She didn't even want to consider the hypothesis that Shinichi could have declared himself to the girl

he loved. The only thought shattered her last hopes and Ran wanted to hope.

She sighed and left Conan's room.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took them more than a hour but the final stage of MYSTERY was nearly all planned out.

Matt was the first one to go into action: he was going to start the work from USA. He had to read all the papers Rei had given him: all the files regarding the Organisation and verify if they were true in the police archives. As soon as he got back to America, he would inform his father and together they'll start to block the Organisation's activities.

"We'll start from the minor activities such as thefts and receiving of stolen properties. I think that these are the main ways the Organisation gets the money for their other activities." Matt said, "Otherwise, I don't know how they manage to corrupt so many people. Anyway, we'll probably deal with the double-crossers and the long list of murders later."

If Matt was going to inform FBI, someone had to inform the Japanese police….

Kaito was the next one to start working: he had to keep an eye on the agent that he had given to police since he was the only Organisation's member that was imprisoned.

"Listen, Kuroba, we'll take advantage of your disguising ability." Ryu said to him, "You'll have to act to be a policeman and check if the Org.'s member is still there. Moreover, you'll have to watch what's going on in the police headquarter: if there's anything strange, call us right away."

"So, I just have to keep an eye on the situation back at Inspector Nakamori's station, right?" Kaito said, taking the piece of paper that Ryu was giving him. Matt, Agase and Shinichi's phone numbers were written on it.

"Well, I wouldn't take it so simple if I were you." Rei said, "According to the files, the Organisation's leaders are three: two in America and one in Japan. We don't know anything else about them. They are totally hidden in the shadows. We know lots more about the members: each one has a file with general information and a photo."

"Well, it's a good thing." Matt remarked, "It will be easier to catch them."

"Hey, what's this got to do with my work?" Kaito asked.

Ryu turned to him.

"We made a few guesses on the leaders' real identity." he said, "They have to be rich or powerful people or both of them. Big shots, in other words. If we had to make a list, I'd put in lots of finance magnates and other men of that sort but also a few high police inspectors."

"That's why he was telling you to be careful." Shinichi remarked, "The police station that you have to control is Tokyo's principal one. You'll have to check if some high officer is involved."

"Uhm, all right." Kaito replied, "And if I find out something, I must inform you guys."

Shinichi had a similar job, too.

He was the only one that knew personally some local police officers: every now and then, he had to contact Inspector Megure and see if anything strange had happened.

"We can also take advantage on the fact that you are friends with an important police inspector's son." Rei said, "What's his name…? Hattori Heiji?"

"Yeah, Heiji Hattori." Shinichi said, "He knows everything about me.. about my shrinking, I mean. I'm sure he'll help us."

That was Shinichi's other job: if they got any news, from Matt or on their own, about the Organization's Japanese headquarter, he had to contact Hattori and then Inspector Megure and, together, they would have raided the place and caught all the members.

On the other hand, Rei, Ryu and Shiho would have worked in the background: they had to help Matt whenever he asked for information. They would be useful since they were all good in using computers and making researches in Internet. Moreover, they had to concentrate their efforts in finding the Organization's Japanese headquarter.

The plan was pretty simple: everyone had a definite role and job. But there was a risk..

They hadn't forgotten that the police station's phone lines were bugged and if Shinichi called and the Organization heard him, they would know he was alive and he would be in danger.

Moreover, if Shinichi was found, Ryu, Rei and Shiho would be in danger, too.

They discussed about this, especially after that Ryu, Rei and Shiho had slightly protested when they learned that their job would have only been to search and give information.

After a while, Matt tried to make them see some sense.

"Listen, you four are the most exposed." he said, "The Organization _knows_ you: they know your faces and they want you dead."

"Well, you're putting Shinichi in danger asking him to contact his police officers friends." Ryu said.

"I would have done without him if I could but it's necessary and he's the only one that can do it." Matt retorted, "I can't suddenly show up and inform Japanese police about the Black Organization and of MYSTERY. Even if I say that I'm an FBI agent, I don't think they'll believe, especially if they ask for information about me and find out that I've been through an inquiry for double crossing."

"Well, I can't do it either." Kaito pitched in, "Even though we look alike, I can't take Kudo's place because I don't know anything about the cases he's been involved. And, by the way, _I_ am Phantom Thief Kid: if they find out who I am, I'd go straight to jail."

"You weren't so cautious when we said that you had to disguise as a policeman and check Tokyo's principal police station." Shinichi remarked, looking at him with an eyebrow raised.

Kaito grinned.

"Being Kid is one thing, acting as you is another." he said simply.

Matt was still thinking over the previous problem.

"Anyway, Kudo is the only one that can contact Japanese police." he said, "He knows trustworthy people. We can't make the mistake to inform one of the Organization's spies."

"Don't worry." Shinichi said, "I'll find a way to do my job without being found by the Organization and without endangering."

Ryu sighed lightly.

"Yes, you're the only one that can do this." he said, " And, by the way, we don't have other choice, do we? So, what else is left?"

"Well, the plan is all… planned and each of us has a specific job." Matt replied, "Then, what..? Oh, yes, I nearly forgot. Whenever you contact me, never use your names: I've checked out all my phone lines but it's better to be cautious. Each of you has to find a codename, so I'll know right away whom I'm talking with. There's no problem for Ryu, Rei and me: we already have ours. It's just you three, then."

"I'll stick with Kid." Kaito said, "I don't think it could be recognizable."

"No, it isn't. Anyway, who would think an FBI agent worked with a thief?" Matt said, grinning slightly, "By the way, my code name's Ford."

"Mine is Ellery." Ryu said.

"And mine is Christie." Rei said.

"What about you two?" Matt asked, turning to Shinichi and Shiho, "What have you decided?"

"I think I'll carry on with Conan." Shinichi said, "After all, he was involved with the Organization as much as I was."

"Yeah, good idea." Ryu said with a smile, "And you Shiho?"

"I'll go on with Ai." she said, "I don't want to choose another name."

"All right, then" Matt said, getting up, "MYSTERY'S team is formed: the six of us plus my Dad and his squad. The plan will start tomorrow. As soon as I get back to America, I'll start my job."

He opened his backpack and stuffed his two notebooks inside. Afterwards he drew out two parcels and handed them to Ryu.

"The things you asked me to bring." he said, "Two automatics with two chargers each plus other four extra ones for you and Rei and two dozens of bullets for your revolver."

"Well, I didn't except you'd have brought everything today." Ryu remarked, "Thanks Matt."

"No problem. Anyway, good thing I came with a private airplane, otherwise they would have stopped me at the airport, thinking I'm a terrorist or something." Matt replied with a slight grin.

The others smiled slightly.

"Matt?" Rei said, "How much time will it take you to get on with work?"

"Time? Well, I will try to verify everything and work out the rest with Dad as fast as possible but I can't do it too fast either." he replied, "Both the Organization and FBI would suspect something. Anyway, I'll start asking your help right away, so let's say a few weeks…"

"A few weeks?" Shinichi said, "Well, that not much."

But Ryu was not so optimist.

"No, Shinichi, you misunderstood." he said, "It will take Matt a few weeks to start the work. It will take even more, maybe, months for us to take part of the plan."

"Well, that right." Matt admitted, "But it's a good thing after all. The Organization will be too busy trying to understand why all their activities in America are being blocked to bother to you four. You won't have to hide as much as you did till now."

Both Ryu and Rei noticed a strange hint in Matt's voice and, for some reason, it didn't sound good. For them at least.

"What do you mean with –_you don't have to hide?_" Ryu asked, "Ok, let's say that the Organization is all focused in the problems you'll be giving them in America. It doesn't mean that we four can hang around freely without worrying to be found."

"I'm not saying _that_ but.."

"But?" Rei asked.

Matt looked first at Ryu and Rei, then turned to Shinichi and Shiho.

"Can I ask you a thing?" he asked, looking at the four, "What are you going to do in these months?"

This question took them by surprise: it was the last thing they expected in that moment.

"There's not much to say." Shiho said, "We'll wait."

"You'll wait." Matt said, "Ok, where?"

"At Agase's house." Rei said, wondering where on earth was Matt getting to.

Matt nearly laughed.

"All four of you?" he asked.

"Of course." Shinichi said, "We can't split, can we?"

"I didn't mean that." Matt said again, "Till now, Rei, Ryu and Miyano.. well no, Ai have been living here while Kudo.. ehm, Conan has been living in another place, right?"

"Yes." Rei said.

"You and Ryu have been very careful: you rarely went out and, when you did, you were always disguised. The other two didn't need a disguise since they were kids. But now, it's all different. Wouldn't it be suspicious if four teenagers were all hiding in the same place, hardly going out?"

Ryu thought this over.

"Well, it _might_ be suspicious." he admitted, "But what can we do?"

"You could try to be normal for once." Matt replied and Ryu, Rei, Shiho and Shinichi stared at him.

"Be normal?" Ryu echoed, "What the hell do you mean with _that_?"

But the American boy didn't answer. Rei looked at him thoughtfully.

"Matt, do you know something we don't?" she asked, "I've got this… fleeting feeling that you want to, or better, have to tell us something but you don't know how."

Matt looked at her and nodded.

"Well, you guessed right." he said, scratching his head, embarrassedly, "But, first of all, I've got nothing to do with this! It's not my idea or anything: I'm just the messenger."

Ryu looked at him slightly amused.

"Hey, calm down, Matt." he said, "No one's going to kill you. Anyway, what's up?"

'No one will kill me?' Matt thought, 'Just wait to hear this and then, let's see. Anyway, here I go.'

"Ok.. well, when I was coming here by plane with Mrs. Kudo…" he said, "Well, she asked what we would have done today: what we would have discussed and decided.."

"Were you worried for that?" Shinichi asked, "Yeah, Mom can be pretty curious.. nosy, I can say but don't worry, she won't say a word."

"No, it's not that: I know we can trust your mother and your father." Matt said to him, "It's just that, I gave her a general idea of the plan and she quickly spotted this last part where you, Miyano, Rei and Ryu had to work here. She noticed that you had to be contact and work outdoors but you also had to be careful not to found."

"And..?" Rei asked.

"Well, she said: The best disguise is to be normal."

"Sorry, but I don't understand." Ryu said, "Matt, why don't you _explain_ instead of… talking nonsense?"

"Oh, all right. Mrs. Kudo came up with an idea and, well, I thought it wasn't bad." Matt said. He turned to Shinichi and Shiho. "Does anyone know that you two are back? I mean, in your true forms."

Shiho shook her head.

"Nobody. I don't know anyone here, besides the ones in this house." she replied and she turned to Shinichi. Rei and Ryu did the same. The detective turned slightly red.

"Ehm… A friend of mine knows." he said, "I met her a few weeks ago and I told her that I'd be back in a couple of weeks."

Matt nearly sighed in relief.

'Great! Someone knows.' he thought, 'We can still do it.'

"Coming back to Mrs. Kudo's idea, she suggested that you four could…ehm.." Matt stammered, "Go to school."

The reaction was predictable.

"_WHAT?" _

"Matt, this is mad." Rei said.

"Absolutely mad." Ryu corrected.

"Teitan High will be surely controlled." Shiho said, "That's where Kudo-kun goes to school: the Organization knows it."

"We can't go there." Shinichi said.

"_Why not?"_

The six teenagers turned around and saw Yukiko standing at the door frame with Agase right behind her, holding a tray with cups of coffee.

Shinichi got up and faced his mother.

"Mom, _why_ do you think that going to school will help us instead of complicating our situation?" he asked with a note of exasperation in his tone.

"Well, you four will be mixed up with hundreds of other students." she said, "It would take the Organization quite a while to find you."

"Ok, but.."

"Shin-chan, why didn't you tell us that you had given and passed your final exams?" Yukiko asked, cutting across her son's question, "Hiroshi-san just told me."

"Well, I forgot." he replied sincerely, "Mom, why..?"

"Another thing, why didn't you tell us that there were so many old bills to pay? I went home to look around and there was no light, gas or water." she said with a slightly annoyed tone, "Anyway, I paid everything: it should be all working by tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning?" Shinichi asked echoed confused but his face cleared immediately, "Oh, yes, I understand: since I'm back to my true form, I must go and live at home from now on. I nearly forgot that. Anyway, I'll stay here at Agase's tonight."

"Listen, won't it be dangerous for you to go back to your house?" Rei asked, approaching him, "I mean, the Organization knows that next door is your place. They had already sent people to check it out and Shiho was with them. What if they do it again?"

"Well, I'll have to risk." he replied, "If something happens, I'll manage to come here and you three will help me out. Ran knows I'm coming back and she has told it to Sonoko, so I have to go and stay at my place."

As he mentioned Ran, a glint of guilt flickered in his eyes while a spark of sadness mixed to pain flashed for a few seconds in Shiho's eyes. Ryu was the only one to notice it and he couldn't help wondering when his two friends would deal with their feelings and stop suffering pointlessly.

"I don't think they'll come back." Matt said, making Ryu, Rei, Shinichi and Shiho stare at him.

"Why not?" Ryu asked.

"Well, it would be too.. obvious." Matt replied simply, "Let's put it in this way: the Organization supposes that Kudo is alive. They think: Where could he be? In America with his parents? In Japan, waiting for the right moment to strike and damage them? Hiding in some other foreign country? Or perhaps, is he really dead?

These are all their questions. Believe me, the last thing they would think of is that Kudo has got back to his house, here in Beika. They _know_ that he knows that it would be the first place where they would look for him, so they don't even bother to check it out and look somewhere else. And, coming to think of it, it's the same thing for the school."

"Well, your reasoning could be right." Ryu said, "But it's all built up on hypothesis and we can't risk our lives without some certitudes."

Matt looked at him defiantly.

"You want some certitudes?" he asked, "Well, you'll have them. Give me one.. two weeks: I'll start damaging the Organization's activities in America and I bet what you want that they'll be so busy figuring out how to block FBI that they will probably forget you four for a while."

'Ugh, he thought of everything!' Ryu thought, sighing inwardly, 'He knew that we would have protested and he came up with a good answer for each of our questions.'

"Matt, since you seem to have worked this out from the beginning, why don't you tell us what exactly should we do?" he asked.

"I told you: be normal. I don't know what story you'll make up but you'll all have to behave as four normal seventeen year olds. Not like FBI agents or chemists." Matt said, looking straight at Ryu, Rei and Shiho, "And, most of all, not like ex university students."

Kaito and Shinichi tried to keep their face straight but a small smile forced it's way out as they saw the look on the other three's face. Going back to school… _high school_ was probably the last thing they thought would have happened to them.

Rei slowly turned around and faced Yukiko and Agase.

"I suppose that you two agree with Matt, right?" she asked, "It would be pointless to ask you to support us and let us stay home?"

"Right." Yukiko said.

"We'll always support you." Agase said, "But not in this case. Anyway, it doesn't seem such a bad idea to me: at least, you'll have something to do while you have to wait the news from America."

Thinking it over, after the annoyance had slightly gone away, Shinichi admitted that it was a good idea. If they went to school and behaved as any other student, no one would have noticed them. It would have been lots more suspicious if they were hiding in the same place, occasionally going out.

"Well, it seems that we don't have other choice, do we?" he said, after a while.

"Not really." Ryu said, looking up.

"I suppose we'll have to agree." Shiho remarked.

"Yes, seems that we'll be all back to the second year of high school." Rei said.

"So, you're going to go to school?" Yukiko asked.

The four teenagers looked at each other.

"Yes." they replied rather glumly.

"Don't be so enthusiast." Matt said sarcastically, "To tell the truth, I don't know why you're so glum: you've got something to do instead of being bored to death, cooped in this house." He grinned as the four sent death glares to him and got up. "Oh well, since we've finished talking and we've decided everything.." He stretched a bit, "What now?"

"What about eating something?" Agase suggested, "It's already half past four and you didn't even have lunch. I prepared a few things while you were discussing, so if you want to…"

"Well, now that you mention it…" Shinichi said, "I do feel hungry."

"And not only you." Ryu added, "We were so taken up that we didn't even bother to check the time."

"Let's go then." Rei said, "Everybody in the kitchen."

The six teenagers, Yukiko and Agase left the lab and headed to the kitchen.

-

The meal was quite enjoyable: between Agase's great cooking and Yukiko's usual cheerfulness, everyone had a good time. Yukiko was particularly interested on Kaito's resemblance with Shinichi and passed most of the time trying to find all the similarities among them (Shinichi was perpetually red because of his mother's behavior).

About an hour later, Matt and Yukiko decided to leave: there was a private plane that was waiting for them at the airport. However, before going away, Yukiko opened her handbag and drew out a few envelopes.

"Shin-chan, these are for you." she said, handing them to her son.

Shinichi looked at her quizzically.

"Mom? What's this stuff?" he asked.

"A small gift from your father and me." she replied, "In one envelope there is your bankbook and.."

"I've got a bank account?" Shinichi asked, cutting through his mother's explanation.

"Of course you have one! Did you really think that your father and I would have left you alone in Japan without leaving you some extra money?" she asked, slightly surprised, "Anyway, you can use that money in the way you like: it's yours. Take it as a welcome back gift. Hiroshi-san said that you wanted to buy a motor bike, so you can do it now."

"A motor bike? Oh, yes… a motor bike, of course." Shinichi said, hoping no one noticed his wavering. Behind him, Ryu, Rei and Shiho hid a smile. They were the only ones that knew the truth: Agase still believed that the two boys had gone out to choose a motorbike the evening after Shinichi's exam. They didn't tell him anything about the rifle range or the fighting lessons. They knew that he would have worried.

"What's in this one?" Shinichi said, waving the other envelope. Something moved inside.

"Oh, there are two credit cards in there. One is for emergencies while the other one is for your friends." Yukiko replied simply.

Rei, Ryu and Shiho stared at her.

"For… us?" they asked.

"Yes for you." she said with a smile, " Rei-chan and Ryu-kun, you left America abruptly and I don't think you had enough time to collect some money and Shiho-kun, you didn't have the chance to do it either. So, my husband and I thought that we could help you: we thought that you would need to buy some things too."

"No, wait, I've got some money." Ryu started, "I can manage with that.."

Yukiko stopped him and shook her head.

"Don't worry. It's not a problem for us: on the contrary, it's a pleasure." she said, "Please accept the money as a gift."

Ryu and the two girls were speechless. They just looked at each other and then nodded at Yukiko, murmuring a "Thank you."

Shinichi grinned.

'Great move, Mom and Dad.' he thought.

Kaito was the leaving too: he promised to be careful and to keep in touch but he also made the others swear that they would contact him if they had any important news. As he gave them his phone number, Shinichi smirked: he had Phantom Thief Kid's phone number and they were working together.. He never thought it would have been possible.

They were all standing in front of Agase's house for the last goodbyes.

Yukiko gave Shinichi and Rei a rib-cracking hug and made them promise to be careful. They both blushed and mumbled that they would have been. Yukiko then turned to Ryu and Shiho and gave them a hug too.

"Take care, all right?" she said.

Taken aback by her action but secretly pleased, Shiho and Ryu nodded.

Matt shook hands with everyone and then, he surprisingly turned to Agase.

"Professor, can I ask you favor?" he asked, "Would you mind keeping an eye on these four? Ryu and Rei attract problems like magnets and I think that Miyano and Kudo are not very different. And the thought that these four are together worries me."

Agase smiled, noticing the look on the above mentioned four.

"Of course." he replied, "It will be my duty to see what they're doing."

Matt and Yukiko left by car while Kaito walked away. They waved goodbye and disappeared.

Shinichi looked around: it was getting dark and he felt quite tired after a day of decisions and discussions. Agase and the others went back inside while he waited out for a few seconds.

He glanced at his house: it had been months since he had been inside. He wondered in what state he would find it tomorrow but he was also secretly glad to go back to his own house.

He stared at the dusky sky.

"The final stage has started now." he whispered, "Black Organization, your hours are counted."

And with this, he went inside too.

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Wow, chapter 18 is up! It's an important chapter and I hope that everyone has understood what I meant. I must admit that it's a bit confusing: there are a few parts that don't satisfy me a lot. Let's say that I had the ideas but I don't know if I wrote them well. I also think I've rushed a bit at the end. Anyway, if there are any mistakes or confusing points, just send me a review or an e-mail and I'll try to clear your ideas. Ok?

Another thing, everything that is written in this chapter has been created by me. I only used Kaito Kids' story and Pandora, the rest is invented.

REVIEW!

Bye!

A.N: Mistakes have been corrected


	20. Preparations and a confession

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Detective Conan.

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR Chapter 19: Preparations and a confession.

_"Shinichi, Ryu, wake up!"_

The two boys woke up with a start.

Someone was knocking hard on the door and calling them. Ryu managed to get up and went to open the door, still half asleep.

"Rei?" he said, recognising the person in front of him. "For heaven's sake.. Do you know what time is it? And, by the way, what do you want?"

The girl stared at him.

"What do I want?" she repeated, "Your memory's deceiving you, Ryu."

The boy looked at her blankly. In the meanwhile, Shinichi had got up too and he approached to the door with a sleepy look.

"What's going on?" he asked, stifling a yawn.

"'Ni- chan? Do you remember what we have to do?" Rei asked, turning to him.

"Well... ehm..." Shinichi stammered, ".. No."

Rei shook her head in disbelief.

"I don't believe it. And to think that _you_ were the one that decided everything." she said, "Anyway, since it seems that your brains are still unplugged, I'll refresh your memories.

Today is Monday and a week ago, Matt, Yukiko-san and Kuroba-kun had been here to talk with us. Ryu, you decided to wait a few days before doing anything and Shinichi, you said that we could wait a week and then.."

"Move to my house." he finished, his mind clearing "Yeah, I said that. Sorry, I forgot."

"Oh, yes, we had to clean the house today." Ryu said.

"Finally! Your memories are back." Rei remarked sarcastically, "Anyway, Shiho is up too and we have just made breakfast. So, if you two hurry up, we can leave before nine."

"All right." the two boys mumbled, "See you downstairs."

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"Are they coming?" Shiho asked as Rei came in the kitchen.

"Yes, they'll be down in a few minutes." she replied, "You know, they didn't even remember what we had to do today. When I woke them up, they looked at me blankly: I had to explain them everything."

Shiho smirked and took a sip of coffee. Rei was just helping herself to a piece of toast, when Shinichi came in, followed by Ryu who was carrying a bundle of newspapers.

"Good morning." they said as they sat down.

"Good morning." the girls replied.

"They have just delivered these." Ryu said, dividing the newspapers: two were Japanese and the other two were American. He handed the local papers to Shinichi and Shiho while he took a foreign paper and handed the other to Rei. They had decided to buy so many newspapers only to be informed of everything and to see how Matt's work was going in America.

Shinichi quickly flipped through the pages but he didn't find anything that he could call strange. There was the usual news, nothing manifest or suspicious. He put the paper down and started to have breakfast. Shiho followed him suite: there wasn't anything on her paper either. Ryu and Rei, instead were still reading.

"Miyano, where's Agase?" Shinichi asked.

"He's fast asleep." Shiho replied, "I heard him mutter something like -I'm tired- and -I'm not young like you-."

Shinichi grinned, imagining the old scientist when he said this, and went on eating breakfast.

Shiho glanced at Rei.

"Anything interesting?" she asked.

"A few bank robberies that have been prevented by the police..." Rei replied, "And a gang of drug dealers that has been caught."

"And two police officers that have been arrested because they were selling out information about local police's activities." Ryu added, "Matt's working well."

"Yeah, that's the second gang that is caught in New York." Shinichi remarked, "FBI caught a group of counterfeits a few days ago."

"I wonder if the Organization has realized what's going on." Shiho said, "The activities that make them receive money are slowing falling down."

"And their informers' system is going to fall too." Rei said, "Matt has his suspects and in another couple of weeks, all the double crossers will be caught."

"I won't be so overhasty." Ryu remarked, "Matt knows the risks he's go against and, since he's not the only one to be involved, he'll take it slow."

"In other words, it's useless to hope that we'll be pulled in action now." Rei said, drinking her coffee, "We will have to wait a few months as Matt has said."

Ryu smiled slightly and nodded.

"Yeah and we've got to go to school and behave as normal transfer students." he said, "By the way, has anyone come up with a good story to explain why we are here, where we're from and everything?"

"Well, since nearly everyone knows that I'm a detective and they think I've been in America working on cases for the past months, we could say that we've worked together -without mentioning FBI or the Organization of course- and, as for who you are..." Shinichi said, thoughtfully, "We can say that Ryu and Miyano have always lived in America because of their parents' work, while Rei can say that she moved to America from Europe because she wanted to improve her studies. You see, truth mixed with a bit of falsehood." He had said this very fast and a blank silence greeted his words. Shinichi looked up and saw that the other three were staring at him. "Well... I thought it was a good story.. But.. if you don't want.."

"You should write a book, 'Ni-chan." Rei remarked.

"That's quite a story." Ryu said, finishing his breakfast.

"Yes." Shiho agreed.

Shinichi grinned, glad that his idea was good.

"Write a book?" he said, standing up, "No way! Dad's enough for that."

The girls and Ryu smiled and got up too. They cleared everything, leaving Agase's breakfast on the table, and left the kitchen.

"I hope the house isn't in very bad conditions." Shinichi said, as he got the keys, "It's been months since I've cleaned it up."

"Well, we're in four." Ryu remarked, "It shouldn't take us a lot of time to do it."

"You're wrong." Rei said, "Shinichi's house is enormous: believe me, it will take us two days, at the very least to clean it properly."

"Really? I didn't look around when I was inside, last time." Ryu admitted, "I just put some of my things in a room and left."

"We'll see now." Shiho said, "Anyway, Kudo-kun, something wrong?

Shinichi was staring at Rei and her. He looked up when she made the question.

"No, it's just, that... Are you two coming like that?" he asked, pointing to their clothes.

"What's wrong with them?" Rei asked, looking down at herself and at Shiho. She was wearing a pair of jeans, her usual white blouse and her denim jacket, that she had turned into a waistcoat, after that Scotch's shot had torn her right sleeve. Shiho was wearing a pair of dark navy pants and a sleeveless shirt.

"Nothing, but we're going to clean my house and your clothes won't last very long inside." Shinichi replied. He pointed to Ryu and himself. They were both wearing old clothes: a pair of faded blue jeans and a black t-shirt (Shinichi), black jeans and the old white shirt he used at the bar (Ryu).

Understanding what he meant, Rei nodded.

"Well, you may be right but I didn't bring any old clothes along with me." she said.

"And I haven't got any clothes with me." Shiho said, "Neither old or new: I'm still borrowing Rei's things."

"You should go shopping one of these days." Shinichi remarked, "My mom left you three a credit card and you should use it."

"A step at a time. We're transfer students, remember?" Shiho said, sarcastically, "First we have to settle ourselves, then I'll think about my garments."

Shinichi shrugged.

"Wait a second, then." he said.

He went upstairs, leaving the other three at the door. He returned a few moments later with some of his clothes and handed them to the two girls.

"I know that they're not your size but, since we're just cleaning, who cares, right?" he said.

Shiho and Rei nodded and went upstairs to change.

Ryu, in the meanwhile, was flipping through the pages of a magazine that was on the hall's cupboard. He put it away and looked up.

"Hey, Shinichi, do still want to buy a motorbike?" he asked.

"Well, I'm not sure." the other replied, "Why?"

"I was thinking that we could ride to school instead of walking. It would be faster and safer, since we would be wearing the helmets. No one could recognize us."

"That's an idea." Shinichi said, "Wait, what about Rei's scooter? We could use that."

Ryu shook his head.

"It's totally useless: it broke down because nobody used it for months." he said, "I think Professor tried to repair it but without success."

"Well, I think I should buy a motorbike, then." Shinichi said, "But what about the driving license?"

"That's not a problem. You just have to give a test: it's easy, don't worry." Ryu said, "You can give and pass the test and buy the bike, all in the same day."

"The girls want to do some shopping. I'll do it when they decide the day. By the way, you'll have to come with me: someone has to help choose the right motorbike."

"No problem." Ryu replied.

Just then, Shiho and Rei came down. They were both wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. The two boys couldn't help thinking that they looked pretty even with those baggy clothes.

"Shall we go?" Rei said as she approached them, "It's already a quarter past nine."

"Sure." Shinichi said, tossing his keys and catching them in midair. He opened the front door and stepped out, followed by the others.

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'Oh, my...'

This was Shinichi's first thought when they went inside his house and opened the windows. The last time he had been there, it was when he thought Rei had died: he hadn't bothered to look around or notice his house's state since he had other things in his mind but now...

They were all standing in the hall and Shiho, Ryu and Rei had Shinichi's same look.

"Just two days?" Shiho asked Rei, "You're still sure of that?"

"Ehm... not really." she replied.

Ryu walked over to a table and wiped a huge speck of dust with his index finger.

"Ehm.. I think it's better if we get started." he said, hastily cleaning his hand, "There's quite a lot to do in here."

"Yeah, by the way, how do we set to work?" Shinichi asked, "We divide the house in four parts and each of us cleans one?"

"Sounds good to me." Rei said. Shiho nodded in agreement.

"It's all right for me, too." Ryu said, "But, first you'll have to you'll have to... ehm... give us a tour of the house. Rei was right: it's enormous."

"Sure. Follow me." Shinichi said and guided the others around, "Ok, this is the hall. On the right, there's the kitchen: there are brooms, dusting clothes and other things in that tall cupboard in the corner. Whoever gets to clean the kitchen will have a hard time cleaning the fridge... Anyway, on the left, there's the living room and the studio, behind those glass doors."

"Wow." Ryu said, under his breath, as he looked around. The living room was large with the door-window that gave onto the lawn but the studio was even bigger. It had a well-supplied library, two desks with as much chairs and a small couch.

"Are these all your father's?" Ryu asked Shinichi, pointing to the many books' shelves.

"Well not everything. There's a bit of my stuff, too." he replied, "All the books that couldn't in my room."

"What's that?" Shiho asked, pointing to a small room, right under the staircase.

"It's a bathroom, though no one really uses it except for the washing machine. We can say that it's a.. laundry room." Shinichi replied, "Well, that's all for downstairs. Let's go up."

They went up the stairs and found themselves in front of a long corridor. The only source of light came from the window behind them, so Shinichi switched the light on.

"There are only rooms here, right?" Rei said, looking around, "Coming to think of it, does everyone gets a single room or should we share a room in two?"

"There are plenty of rooms. You can each take one for yourselves." Shinichi said. He walked in front of the others. "Well, this is mine." He stopped in front of the first room on the right and opened the door.

"Ugh, this place needs quite a cleaning." he said with a grimace as he stepped in and opened the window to let some fresh air come in. He turned around. "You can choose the room you want. Go ahead."

There were other two rooms on the right after Shinichi's one and three were on the left side. Ryu stopped in front of the first room on the left, opposite Shinichi's.

"I'll take this one." he said, "I've stored my things here."

Rei walked to his side.

"I've put my things in this one." she said, "So, I'll take this."

"Ok. What about you, Miyano?" Shinichi asked.

"It's the same for me. Anyway, I choose this one." she said, pointing to the room right next to his.

"All right. So, you're all settled up, now. The last room on the right is my parents' one while the on the left is another guest room." Shinichi continued with his tour, "While down there, in the center, that's the bathroom and next to it, that small room, it's a storeroom. And that's all... no, there's also the lawn and the terrace.

"Quite enough." Ryu said, "Where do we start from?"

"Let's start from upstairs: the rooms are smaller than the ones that are downstairs." Rei suggested, "We should finish earlier."

"All right, then." Shinichi said, "Everyone to work."

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It was nearly one o'clock when the four teenagers had finished cleaning their rooms.

Shinichi had remembered that there was a vacuum cleaner and a vaporizer in the house: he searched in the storeroom and found them. In this way, they cleaned the rooms thoroughly.

"Phew. Well, that's better." Shinichi said, looking at his room. "One can live here now."

He had made his bed and changed the sheets. He had dusted every inch of his shelves, desk and furniture. He had broomed and mopped the floor. He had also cleaned the windows.

'Yeah, that's lots better.' he thought, 'By the way, I've got to remember to bring my computer

back. I can't leave it in Agase's lab.'

"'Ni-chan, have you done?" Rei asked, peeking in the room.

"Yes. I've just finished." he replied, "What about you?"

"We've done, too. Shiho and Ryu have gone down to Agase's to get something for lunch: sandwiches and something to drink, I think. In this way, we could get to work soon."

"I hope we'll finish this floor before afternoon. The down floor will take lots more of time."

"I hope so too." Rei agreed, "Anyway, there's a bundle of sheets, blankets and pillow cases out here: we've all changed the sheets in our rooms but what about the old ones?"

"I'll put the washing machine tomorrow. Just leave them in my room and I'll do it when we finish the cleaning of the house."

"All right." Rei said, dropping the stack of sheets on Shinichi's chair. She slowly looked around the room and smiled slightly to herself.

"You know.." she said, "It's nearly four years since I've been in here."

"But nothing has changed." Shinichi remarked.

"Yes, it's all the same and you're still obsessed by Holmes and soccer." Rei said teasingly.

Shinichi grimaced at her and she grinned. Suddenly, she tilted her head.

"I think they're back." she remarked, "I heard the door."

"Well, let's go then." Shinichi said, cleaning his hands on a cloth, "I'm starving."

The two quickly washed their hands in the bathroom and went downstairs to join the others.

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Shiho and Ryu had gone back to Agase's house.

As they opened the door, Professor greeted them.

"Shiho-kun, Ryu-kun, welcome back." he said, "I thought it would have taken you much more time to clean out Shinichi-kun's house..." He stopped and stared at two teenagers and hastily tried to hide the smile that was creeping on his face.

But the blondes noticed it and, looking at each other, they understood the reason.

"We're pretty messed up, aren't we?" Ryu said with a slight smile, noticing the specks of dust and the traces of cobwebs on Shiho's shirt.

"Yes, quite a bit." she replied, noticing that Ryu's white shirt was now light gray.

"So, how is the cleaning going on?" Agase asked as they dusted themselves.

"We're still doing the first floor." Shiho said, "We just did our rooms."

"We just came here to get something for lunch." Ryu added.

"I knew that you would have come, so I made some sandwiches and there are two bottles of lemonade in the fridge." Agase said before disappearing in the lab.

"Thanks, Professor." Shiho said, as she and Ryu went in the kitchen. There was a plastic box full of sandwiches and four plastic glasses on the table. Ryu opened the fridge and got the lemonades while Shiho found a bag and put everything in.

"What's in the sandwiches?" Ryu asked, handing her the bottles.

Shiho opened the box.

"Chicken and some are with ham and also sliced hard-boiled eggs." she replied.

"Really? Wait a second then..." he said and walked to the pantry, opened it and started searching for something. Shiho looked at him with mild curiosity.

"What are you looking for?" she asked.

"I thought I saw it the other day..." he said to himself, "Oh, here it is."

Ryu approached her and handed her a small bottle. Shiho stared at it.

"What's this?" she asked, taking it, "Tabasco sauce?"

He looked at her.

"I like strong flavours." he said simply.

"Where are you going to put it anyway?

"On the hard boiled eggs." he replied, "Where else?"

"You eat hard boiled eggs with Tabasco sauce?"

"Yes and they're good. You should try."

"No, thanks. I'll take your word."

Ryu grinned, seeing Shiho's expression. It was one of the rare times she showed her real emotions.

"All right, I won't insist." he said, "But you don't know what you're missing."

"What a pity.." Shiho muttered under her breath but Ryu heard her.

"You know, if I get to do some cooking I could slip some of the sauce in your share." he said, "Then, you'll see that it doesn't taste bad.

"But, thanks God, it will never happen." she remarked.

"Why not? Since we're moving next door, we can't come here everyday for lunch and dinner. We'll have to manage ourselves. And that means doing our own cooking."

"So, I'll have to be careful and check my plate every time you prepare something."

Ryu grinned again and took the bag. They both left the house after having said goodbye to Agase. As they were walking next door, the conversation went back to their previous subject.

"Ryu-nichan?" Shiho asked suddenly, "Who taught you how to cook?"

"Huh? Well, I mainly learned by myself but Mrs. Xanders showed me how to do a few things."

"What about your mother?"

"My mother? No, I watched her cook many times but I never really asked her how to do it." Ryu said. Then he glanced at the girl, "What about you?"

"Well, One-chan showed me how to do a few things but I mainly learned alone too."

Noticing that the conversation was coming to a painful point, Ryu tried to go astray.

"What do you think?" he asked with a slight smile, "Will Shinichi or Rei try the Tabasco sauce or will they be spice haters like you?"

"We'll see it soon." Shiho said, opening the front door. They had hardly got in the kitchen that the other two were down.

"What did you bring?" Shinichi asked, as he shifted a chair.

"Agase made some sandwiches and there's lemonade to drink." Shiho replied.

"Sounds good." Rei said, sitting on a chair. She then noticed the small bottle inside the bag and took it out. After having read the label, she turned to Ryu.

"It's for you, I suppose?" she asked, putting it back on the table, "How can you eat this?"

"I'm not the only one then." Shiho remarked softly so that Ryu was the only one to hear her. He looked at her slightly annoyed.

"Why? It's not bad." Shinichi stated, helping himself to a hard-boiled egg sandwich and putting some sauce on it. Ryu grinned and shot Shiho a -there you are!- look.

"Here's a sensible person." he said, sitting down on a chair and taking a glass of lemonade.

"Maybe you two are the mad ones and we are sensible." Rei remarked.

The boys frowned at her while Shiho smirked.

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The cleaning went on all till eight o'clock.

They had finished the first floor and had also cleaned the living room and the small laundry room. The only things left were the studio, the kitchen, the hall and the lawn. When they went back to Agase's house, they only had one thought: take a shower and go to bed. And also eat something if they still had the strength.

The next day, they decided to work in couples: it would have been less tiring. The girls got to do the kitchen and the hall while the boys had to do the studio and the lawn.

"A really equal division..." Shinichi muttered as he climbed the ladder and removed a stack of books from the library and handed it down to Ryu. He then took the dusting cloth and cleaned the shelf. When he finished , he threw the cloth on a desk and looked down at his friend.

"How come we've got to do the biggest room and the lawn?" he asked.

Ryu just shrugged and handed him the books.

"I have no idea. Maybe we're too soft or maybe we're two gentlemen or we're just two fools that didn't dare to say no to the girls." he said, "Anyway, we have to do it."

'Good answer..' Shinichi thought sarcastically, as he put the books away.

"Anyway, we've got to hurry up and finish this room soon." Ryu added, "We should do the lawn before evening."

"Why?" Shinichi asked with sarcasm, "You don't like to work in the dark?"

"It's not that. But I wouldn't fancy to work when it gets too cold. We're in winter, remember?"

Shinichi turned around and looked out of the window: the sky was gray and it was pretty windy too. Not exactly the finest time to clean out the lawn...

"If we're lucky, we will be working under a pouring rain." he said, arranging another stack of books, "Or worse.."

"Don't be so cheerful." Ryu remarked sarcastically.

"I'm just realistic." Shinichi retorted.

Ryu looked out of the window.

"Well, let's split then: one goes on working here while the other goes out." he said, "In this way, we won't risk to finish too late."

Shinichi jumped down from the ladder and landed on Ryu's side.

"Ok, how do we decide who does what?" he asked.

Ryu slipped his hand in his jeans pocket and drew out a coin.

"We'll do it the old way." he replied, "Heads or tails?"

"Ehm.. tails."

"All right, heads. Let's see who's the lucky one."

Ryu tossed the coin: it went up for a meter and then landed on the ground. The two boys looked down at it. Shinichi grinned while Ryu frowned.

"Damn it.." he said as he picked up the coin.

"Have a good time." Shinichi teased.

"Very funny." Ryu remarked as he headed to the door.

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The girls had nearly finished with the kitchen.

They had worked in that methodical way that demonstrated why girls were cleverer than boys when it came to houseworks. They had cleaned the fridge, the oven, the pantries, the table and the cupboards; they had thrown away all the food that had gone bad and had filled two dustbin bags. The only thing left now was the floor.

Just then they heard a faint noise coming from outside: it was like a small engine working.

Rei went to the window and looked out.

"Don't tell me that they've already finished the studio and they're starting the garden." she said, "I've got to change my opinion on them: I never thought they'd be so quick."

Shiho walked out of the kitchen and peeked into the studio: there was only Shinichi in the room and he was busy. She quietly walked back.

"I think they have decided to divide the work." she said to Rei, "Shi.. Kudo-kun, is still in the studio. I suppose Ryu's outside."

"They'll never change, will they? We decided to work in couples so it wouldn't have been tiring.." Rei remarked, "Maybe they just want to finish earlier." She then smiled mischievously, "Look, you can call him with his first name if you like. You don't have to worry about me: I won't go and tell him, you know?"

Shiho blushed slightly and Rei's smile widened.

"Come on, let's finish soon." she said, taking the broom.

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It was nearly six o'clock when the four teenagers had finished.

They were tired, sweaty and covered in dust but it was worth: the house looked great and it was finally clean. As the girls went back to Agase's house, Shinichi and Ryu took the five dustbin bags that they had left outside the front door and threw them in the trashcans. When they came back to Agase's, their only thought was to take a nice, warm shower and change their dusty clothes.

"That's better." Shinichi said as he entered the room he shared with Ryu and Agase, rubbing his hair with a towel. He stopped near the door as he saw Ryu busy packing up.

"Do you want some help?" he asked, sitting on his bed.

"No, thanks. I've nearly finished." Ryu replied, "I didn't bring too many clothes. I might need some help with the stuff in the lab."

"We can do it after dinner. I have to take my computer too."

Just then, Rei appeared at the door frame.

"Oh, Shinichi, you've done with the bathroom." she remarked.

"Yeah. I've just finished but I thought I was the last one." he said.

"You are." she replied, "I'm going to put the washing machine, so if either of you have got some clothes to wash, give them to me."

The boys gave her the jeans and shirts they had wore during the cleaning and thanked her. Rei just waved her hand and left. Shortly after, Ryu finished packing his things in his sports bag and Shinichi zipped the bag carrying his own clothes.

"We're ready to move." Ryu remarked, looking at the empty room.

"Yeah." the other said.

-

After dinner, the four teenagers were all packing their things in the lab.

They had decided to move to Shinichi's place the next day and they didn't have much time. Yukiko had called Teitan High School to inform them that her son would have come back: after the usual excuses to explain his long, _very long _absence ("he was working on some cases here in America."), she said that he would have come back the following Monday with three transfer students. Of course, she didn't mention that the four of them already had their school-leaving certificate, or that the three new students had already graduated.

They were all busy putting their computers, laptops and notes in cardboard boxes, when Ryu suddenly looked up at them.

"Listen, since we still have to work together with our computers, what do you think if we use a room in Shinichi's house as our working station?" he asked.

"Working station?" Rei asked, slightly amused, "The FBI agent that's in you is coming out again."

"Very funny.." he remarked, "Anyway, what do you think? We can't use Agase's lab anymore, even though it's a great place to work in and I don't think it would be practical if we worked in our rooms. Separately, I mean."

"We could use the studio, then." Shinichi suggested, "It has two desks, books, plenty of space and it's well lit."

"And it can be locked with a key." Ryu added, "I noticed it yesterday."

"You want to keep the room locked?" Shiho asked, "Why? Only our computers will be there and each of us has a password."

"Well, do you remember the radar I was working on? While I was injured, I managed to finish it and I also made another one." he replied, "The first can be fixed inside a laptop but the second one is bigger and more far-fetched."

"So, you need space to hide it." Rei said, "Logical, it would be a bit hard to explain if somebody saw it. You can't it's a radar."

"Exactly. So, will we use the studio as our working station?" Ryu asked.

"Sure." the other replied.

"All right. We can set it up tomorrow after we settle in our rooms." he said.

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The next day was another day of work.

Well, at least for Rei and Ryu. They were the ones with more things to unpack: Rei had all the things her guardian had sent her while Ryu had all the boxes he had brought from America. The other two finished quite soon.

Shinichi just had a sports bag with a few clothes that he quickly put away while Shiho just had her laptop, the lab coat Agase had given her and a small box with some notes and books. Nothing else.

'I have to buy some clothes and some other.. things, too.' she thought as she stood in her new room. There was nothing inside besides the lab coat, hanging on a hook behind the door, the lamps on the desk and the bedside table and her books neatly arranged on the shelves. 'Bare desk, empty wardrobe... nearly empty room. Quite depressing... At least, since I have to go to school with the others, I'll have some stationery material to put on the desk.'

She quickly put the empty box under her bed and left the room, heading to the studio.

'Since they're all busy, I could start setting up... How did Ryu call it? Yes, our working station. From what I've understood, we just have to help Matt when he wants information. There's not much to do. Besides going to school... School. I never thought I'd be going back to school. Last time I even heard that word, I was fifteen and I had just finished high school.'

Shiho was still brooding on the thought that she would have to follow lessons she had already done years ago when she realized that she had left her laptop in her room. She abruptly turned around and bumped into Shinichi that was right behind her, carrying a pile of sheets, blankets and pillowcases, totally oblivious that someone was in front of him since his load had blocked his frontal vision.

"Argh..." Shinichi managed to gasp just before his brain worked and told his body to react automatically. He stepped back while his hands dropped the load they were carrying and moved outwards on its own record, catching the person who had bumped into him. Shinichi looked down.

"Are you o...?" he asked automatically.

His whole body froze as he recognized the person in front of him. Shiho looked up and when they made eye contact, she froze, too.

"Oh, it's you Kudo-kun." she managed to say, straightening up.

"Sorry, Miyano." he said, "I... I didn't see you. That pile of sheets... you know.."

'_Why am I stammering?_' he thought furiously, 'Great behavior, Kudo. Really great..'

"Don't worry, it's not your fault. I didn't notice you either." she replied and Shinichi smiled in spite of himself as he bent down to pick up all the sheets. Shiho noticed it.

"What?" she asked but he didn't answer but, noticing the slight tremor of his arms under the load that covered his face, she knew he was shaking with mirth. Slightly annoyed, she stepped up to him, squashed the bundle of sheets with her hands so that she could see his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Shinichi grinned sheepishly.

"I was just noticing that the great scientist, ex trained member of the Organization as well as brilliant seventeen year old, didn't notice me." he said.

Shiho stared at him.

"Very amusing, Kudo-kun." she remarked, "I was only thinking."

"What about?"

"Going back to high school, searching information for FBI, going downstairs to set up the computers since I don't have anything to unpack. Then, I noticed I didn't have my laptop and I crashed into you."

"Your reasoning works a bit randomly, you know?" he remarked.

"What are you doing?" she asked, ignoring his sarcasm, "I thought you were unpacking, too."

"I just had a few clothes in a bag, nothing else. I thought I could put these old sheets in the washing machine and then set up my computer, too."

"All right." she said. Just then, she noticed that they were merely 5 cm away from each other. Shinichi noticed it too because he stepped back, blushing slightly.

"Ehm... see you later... downstairs." he said nervously, "In the studio."

"Yes." Shiho replied shortly, going upstairs, glad that her bangs hid her reddened face. She quickly went to her room, got the laptop and went back downstairs. She didn't notice the two shadows next to the staircase...

"Will those two ever get through this?"

"It's up to them."

Ryu and Rei leaned on the banisters and looked down.

"By the way, how did you know there was something between them?" Rei asked.

"Shinichi told me how he felt for Shiho and, believe me, his really desperately in love with her. I noticed some of Shiho's attitudes so I just supposed." Ryu said, "Let me guess: you knew everything from the beginning, right?"

"I noticed a few things, too and Shiho just confirmed them. As for Shinichi, I guessed." she replied, I think you're right: he really cares for her and she cares for him, too."

"So, what are they waiting for?"

"The right moment. You should know that."

"Huh?"

"We had feelings for each other for years but never said anything until four months ago. We're not the most suitable people to blame them."

Ryu grinned sheepishly and nodded.

"You're right and their situation is different from ours." he said, "Anyway, let's get back to work: this break has taken lots of time."

"Yes, we'll have to finish soon or they'll think that we're doing it on purpose." she remarked.

"It wouldn't be a bad idea." Ryu said thoughtfully.

"Come on.." Rei said with a smile, pushing him in his room, "Back to work. And don't interfere with them. They'll sort it out on their own."

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That night, the four teenagers definitely moved to the Kudo's house.

They only had dinner at Agase's house: there wasn't anything in the their fridge. They decided to the all the shopping the next day. They needed the car and Professor said that he would lend them his.

They had all gone to bed early since they would have out the next day. The whole house was quiet and it seemed that everyone was asleep.

Well, nearly everyone.

It was nearly midnight but Shinichi was totally restless. He hadn't even changed his clothes: he was just lying on his bed in the dark and looking at the ceiling. Two thoughts were dueling in his head. _Tell her everything_ and _Just keep it to yourself_.

He sighed.

At the beginning, when he realized his feelings for Shiho, he had decided to keep them to himself. Their friendship had deepened after the encounter with Scotch and he didn't want to ruin everything, confessing her feelings that she might not return. For all he knew, Shiho considered him a friend. And it was enough for him... till now.

His feelings were slowly overcoming him. He had noticed it today when Shiho bumped into him on the stairs. At the beginning, it was all normal: they just talked... well, teased each other, as usual and then, he noticed their closeness.

'How much was it? 5-10 cm?' he thought, 'I didn't even realize it immediately.'

When he realized it, his heart told him to get closer, hoping that she would understand and maybe, return but his head told him to step back, to keep everything as it was without ruining something so important for him.

'That's what I was thinking?' he thought, 'Is it really worth to ruin everything without a clue or a hint that she could feel something for me? Why am I always so rational? Maybe my attitude as a detective is influencing my own life. Damn it, I have to find a solution, especially now that we're going to go to school...'

School meant facing Ran and Shinichi was dreading that moment. From what she had told him when he was Conan, she wasn't going to give up on him. Her exact words were clear in his mind.

"_I'm going to fight for Shinichi. He's in love with a girl but he might not be returned. I will always be there for him. I'll wait."_

He could already imagine what would happen when he was back to school: Ran, trying to talk to him while he gently tried to make her reason, Sonoko glaring and shouting at him because he betrayed Ran and Shiho, in order with her character that hates excessive noise or disturbance, would be ignoring him. Not a very attractive prospective...

Shinichi sighed again.

He didn't know what to do. His feelings were clear... too bad, he didn't have the courage to risk.

'They're just three words..' he thought, 'Just three simple words... and I don't know how to tell them to her. Oh, God I'll go crazy if I go on brooding over this.'

He got up, walked across the dark room to the window and opened it. Just then, he noticed that it was raining. Shinichi leant on the sill, enjoying the cool air on his face. In front of his window, there was a big oak tree: when he was smaller, he liked climbing it.

'Mom always got mad because she said it was dangerous but I didn't care.' he thought, smiling to himself, 'I only wanted to reach the higher branches and see the view from up there... And use the tree as a way out, too.'

He grinned, remembering that he had tied a rope to a branch and then to a peg in his room, under the window. He used it to get out of his room, without being noticed by his parents and slip in the lawn. He liked to sit on the grass, looking at the stars or just stay outside at night even when it rained. His mother discovered him months later and only after her scolding, he had stopped doing it.

Shinichi looked in front of him: the tree's branches were large and near to his window. For a seven year old, it could have been dangerous but a seventeen year old could have reached it with a jump.

'Well, why not?' he thought.

He checked the time: it was twelve thirty. The others were probably fast asleep. Ryu and Rei wouldn't have noticed anything but Shiho could. Her room was just next to his.

'It's raining and she will be sleeping.. She'll never notice.'

He opened the window wide, climbed on the sill and jumped on the nearest branch. It took him less than a minute to get to the ground. It was still raining: a light cool rain.

Shinichi threw his head back allowing the rain to fall onto his face. He had always loved the rain, not the storms like but this light one. It had a comforting element that he liked: he felt as though the rain could just wash away all his feelings, problems and pains. And when he was little he would run out and stand in it, his arms spread out wide. He had gotten ill on numerous occasions because of this. 'The number of times Mom told me off for that..' he thought with a smile. He put his hands in his pockets and stared at cloudy sky as the light raindrops fell on his face.

The rain didn't have its usual effect on him.

There were still feelings flowing inside him, something so strong that the rain couldn't wash away. His love for Shiho, his guilt towards Ran, his worry for his friends if the Organisation showed up again but most of all, hidden inside his soul, his insecurity.

That was his main problem: if he solved it, everything else would be easier.

_He_ was the problem.

'If I were more resolute ... if I followed my heart sometimes and if were less rational..' he thought, 'If I had a bit more of self-confidence.. Yes, the Organization is dangerous but if I trusted myself as much as I trust the others, it would be better. I've learned a lot in these last months: I'm not totally useless like when we met Scotch. I am... trained now. I know what to do if we face a danger. Then what? Why am I so unsure?'

He looked up again, allowing the rain to trickle over his body, as he stood there motionless. It took him a while to realise what the answer to his question was: it was easy and he always knew it.

'I'm scared.' he thought simply, 'My life had changed completely since I crossed the Organisation. I always have to be careful... But now, it's going to be different: we're all working to bring it down and we'll risk to be seen. It's like a challenge: it's them or us. We've finally come to the final stage and I'm not sure of myself. I'm scared not to be up to face them and protect the ones I love.'

Shinichi shook his head, showering water all around him. It wasn't the time to have second thoughts. Maybe, he could have pulled himself out the plan months ago but not now.

'Get a grip, Kudo.' he lectured himself, 'Ever since they shrank me, I've been thinking of bringing them down. And now that we're going to do it, I want to give up... NO WAY!'

He had learned how to work on computers, he had learned how to shoot and fight and he had learned what it meant to work as a team. He couldn't give up: for himself but most of all, for his friends' efforts. They had started the plan as a team and, they would have finished together, too.

He took a deep breath and smiled to himself.

'If I had this same self-confidence on my feelings, I could have confessed her when I was still Conan...' he thought.

"Shinichi Kudo, you're the world biggest fool." he said loudly.

_"I agree with you."_

Shinichi quickly turned around as he recognised the voice.

"Miyano?" he asked, "What are you doing here?"

Shiho was standing by the tree, holding an umbrella and she was looking at him with a half amused and half worried expression.

Shinichi approached her and stood under the tree, leaning on the trunk.

"What are you doing here?" he asked again, "I thought you were asleep."

Shiho glanced at him.

"It takes me a while to get used to new environments." she replied simply, "I knew I couldn't sleep so, I just read a book."

"Ok, but how did you know I was here?"

"I heard you jump on the branch. Even though it's raining, there isn't a breath of wind. At the beginning, I thought it was somebody spying us but then I noticed that your window was open, so I guessed it was you."

She smirked as she saw the red lines on his face. She closed her umbrella and went under the tree that was quite a good shelter since it didn't let the rain through.

"By the way, what were you doing?" she asked, "You jumped on the tree from your window and climbed down because..."

"Ehm... I just wanted to think." he replied.

"Oh sure, you were thinking under the rain... after having jumped on a tree from your window." she remarked, "It was obvious."

Shinichi turned to her.

"Do I hear a hint of sarcasm in your words?" he asked.

"Yes and I'm also starting to think that you're going insane." Shiho replied.

"Why? Just because I was standing under the rain?"

"Well, I have a difficulty in understanding why a normal person would like to think under pouring rain instead of being comfortably in his own room."

"I just wanted to think freely and have a breath of fresh air. As for the rain... well, I've always liked to stand under it. You should try once: it's relieving. It makes you forget all your problems as thought they were washed away."

Shiho was slightly surprised by his words.

'He talks as if he had many problems and thoughts in his mind..' she thought, 'Why though? If we don't count the Organisation, his life should be perfect again. He has his body back, his house, his identity and... he can go back to Mouri. Why should he be worried or even sad?'

She turned to look at him: even though it was raining lightly, he was soaked. His hair and his shirt were wet and clung to his body. Small raindrops fell from the tips of his bangs.

Shiho couldn't help thinking that he looked cute even in this version.

Shinichi, in the meantime, was looking at the rain fall in front of him but he was actually trying to be calm. His heart was beating at a speed he didn't think was possible.

'Calm down, Kudo.' he kept saying himself, 'Oh God, I've been thinking of her the whole night, wondering how to tell her my feelings and when I try to clear my ideas, she appears!'

He closed his eyes for a moment, not knowing that Shiho was observing him, and took a deep breath. Since they were there, he could try to talk to her.

But Shiho was faster.

"Kudo-kun? Is there something wrong?" she asked.

Shinichi turned and saw her staring at him. Feeling his cheeks turn red, he managed to smile, making her heart skip a beat.

"Well, it's nothing. I was just thinking of a few things that I have to sort out." he replied.

"You look worried."

"Ehm.. let's say that these.. things are a bit difficult to sort out."

"Is it about the Organisation?"

"That's the only thing I've really sorted out." he replied without thinking. He then saw her surprised face. "I was a bit unsure of myself. Scared, to tell the truth. But I got over it and got a bit of self- confidence thanks to this.. midnight shower."

"So, the rain had some good effects on you." she said with a small smile.

"I've told you." he remarked.

But still, she could see that there was something else. There was something that was troubling him.

'Could it be Mouri?' she thought, 'He went to talk to her that day after his exam.. There's only one way to find out...'

"Well, what else?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"You said that you had a few things to sort out. The Organisation is just one."

Shinichi swallowed. Was it really time to tell her? He was still thinking how to start when Shiho said something that surprised him.

"Do your problems have something to do with Mouri?"

Shinichi stared at her while a thousand questions went through his mind.

'_How_ does she know? Or better, _how much_ does she know? _Who_ told her? Ryu? No, he gave me his word... Then how..?'

His thought must have been pretty evident because Shiho gave one look at his face and smirked.

"Seems that I've guessed right." she remarked.

Shinichi sighed inwardly with relief as he heard her say this. She didn't know what had happened and, most of all, why it happened. Shiho, on the other hand, felt her heart wrench.

'Mouri is his only thought, then...'

She had decided to be a friend to him and a friend helps you if you have a problem. Gives you advice and helps you.

She had to help him, even though it meant tearing, breaking her heart to bits.

Struggling to keep her voice even and calm, she turned to look at him.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Ehm.. well... I had a talk with Ran..." he started.

"The day you gave your exam." she said without thinking.

Shinichi looked at her in surprise again.

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"I overheard Ryu saying this to Rei."

"Oh... ok, well.. we had a talk and I... I told her something that hurt her a lot but instead of.. hating me, she wants to give me a second chance."

"What?"

He turned and saw an expression of pure confusion on Shiho's face. If he wasn't so nervous, he would have laughed.

"I was not very clear, was I?" he asked.

"Not at all." she agreed.

Shinichi swallowed for the second time.

'It's now or never.' he thought, 'I can't draw back this time. I have to tell her. For once in your life, risk Kudo, risk.' He took a deep breath and went on.

"That day, I wanted to talk to Ran because I had to tell her something very important." he said. Shiho was dreading to hear the rest: she knew what he must have said.

'You told her that you loved her and she returns your feelings.' she thought, feeling as though a stone had been dropped inside her body, 'Why are you worried then? What...?'

"I told her that she's a very dear friend to me but nothing more and that I've fallen in love with another girl."

He had said this fast. It took a few seconds for Shiho to take in his words. She turned to him with a stunned expression.

"You told her you were _what_?" she asked.

"I told her that I was in love with another girl." he answered, his eyes covered by his bangs.

'Another girl? Not Mouri?' she thought, 'Who is she?'

She quickly thought of the few people she knew here: leaving out Suzuki for obvious reasons, her guess went to Rei. No, she was with Ryu and she and Shinichi were just good friends. Who then?

She didn't even think of herself. She didn't believe it could be possible. It would be too good to be true.

Too good.

Impossible.

She looked up and saw that he was glancing at her. Feeling a surge of heat attacking her face, she looked back down.

"Ehm.. how did Mouri take it?" she asked after a few moments of silence.

"She just ran out of the bar where we were." he said, "I told her the truth because I didn't want her to suffer pointlessly. I thought she would hate me or forget me but she doesn't. She told me... well, she told Conan that she wasn't going to give up. She would have tried again with me."

"Even after your... confession?"

"Well, I told her I was in love but the girl in question doesn't know my feelings. And I told Ran this, too. So, before going back to school, I have to tell this.. girl, what I feel for her."

"Why didn't you do this before?" Shiho asked, "Why haven't you still told her?

"I'm afraid. Her friendship is important for me and I don't want to ruin everything.."

'Just like my feelings towards you..' she thought sadly, 'I can't believe I'm going to tell him this but as a friend, I have to help him.'

"Well, you'll never know unless you tell her." she said softly, "And even if she doesn't return your feelings, if she really cares for your friendship, it won't end so easily."

Shinichi looked at her. His dark blue eyes were fixed on her.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes." Shiho replied, feeling as though she was tearing her heart into bits with her own hands.

He thought this over for a moment. Shiho, on the other hand, just looked down, unable to see his face. The only noise came from the light raindrops on the leaves.

Then...

"Well, here I go then..."

Shiho looked up in surprise and saw that he was facing her.

'What?' she thought, 'No... it's impossible..'

"All right, Miyano... no... Shiho." Shinichi started and blushed.

She felt a jolt through her heart when Shinichi had called her by her first name.

It made her feel almost special.

After a few seconds, he stepped closer to her and bent down a little till their eyes were on the same level. Shiho felt as though someone had just ignited something inside her body as he looked straight in her eyes from that brief distance. She couldn't do anything but stare back.

'Now or never..' he thought.

"Shiho... I.. love you." he said softly and, nearly without realising it, he kissed her lightly on the lips. "Please, don't hate me..." he whispered as he drew back and waited.

He waited for an answer or for any reaction. He just wanted to know... He looked at her but he just saw surprise on her face. Or was it shock?

'What have I done?' he cursed himself.

For the first time in her life, Shiho didn't know what to do: she was completely lost.

Shinichi's confession first and his kiss later, especially the latter, seemed to have turned off all her senses and her reasoning ability. Slowly, her mind cleared out.

'_Shiho, I love you._

He really told me this: it's not a dream or an hallucination. He.. Shinichi.. loves... me. Me instead of Mouri. He chose me. I don't know what... I was never so...'

A mixture of different feelings surged inside her. Emotions she thought had disappeared when she was still in the Organisation and after her sister's death. Joy, happiness mixed with a bit of incredulity. But most of all, she loved and was loved back. And as she thought this, she also realised that he was probably waiting an answer from her.

She looked up and saw that Shinichi was still staring at her. Just then, she noticed a gleam of sadness mixed with pain flash in his eyes. One look at his face and she realised that he had misunderstood her long silence.

"Ehm.." she started, "Kudo-kun...I..."

"Don't worry." he said, cutting through her sentence, "I understand... It.. it doesn't matter."

Shiho's eyes widened as his words sank in.

'He thinks I don't...'

"No, wait..." she retorted, "You don't.."

But once again, she couldn't finish.

"Don't worry." he said again, "I'm just sorry. I didn't mean to offend you in any way."

Even though his voice was even, she could sense the pain hidden behind it.

He was suffering and it was her fault.

Shinichi looked at her and smiled slightly. He had hoped that his feelings would be returned but, even though, it was painful for him, he could still count on her friendship.

"I think it's nearly one o'clock." he said, "It's better if we go back to sleep: we have to go out tomorrow. Well, goodnight."

He slowly walked towards the front door. Shiho just stood there trying to sort out the mixed feelings brewing inside her and struggling to bring them out.

For her whole life, she had guarded her emotions, leaving no room for any feelings. They were considered unnecessary or, at least this was what they had taught as a child at the Organisation.

But now...

_"You're not a member of the Organisation anymore.. You're just like us."_

His words came back to his mind.

It was true: she wasn't one of them anymore.

'I can't let them influence my life forever.' she thought, 'I can't...'

She turned around and ran after Shinichi, not bothering of the rain. She grabbed his hand and stopped him. Shinichi turned around and looked at her with a slightly quizzical expression.

"Yes...?" he asked uncertainly.

Shiho looked at him.

Embarrassment was slowly surging inside her and it was forcing her to give up on her tentative, along with the invisible walls she had built around herself for all those years.

'Forget them.' she imposed herself, 'Forget the Organization for once. Forget its rules and its teachings. For once, live without being influenced by them and behave without being conditioned by reason.'

She stepped closer to him, their hands still together. They both blushed furiously as they were a few inches away from each other.

"Sh.. Shinichi..." she whispered softly in his ear, "I can't hate you.. because.."

He looked down at her as a spark of hope appeared in his eyes. Shiho gathered all her courage: she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. A sweet, tender kiss on the lips.

".. because I love you, too." she finished when they broke apart, "From a long time."

Shinichi just looked at her.

After the initial shock wore off, he felt as though some kind of explosion was taking place inside his heart: the bitterness and the sadness that he had been feeling less than five minutes ago, had vanished and a warm joyful sensation washed through him.

Not knowing what to say, he smiled at her and brought her closer to him with one arm. Shiho just let him do and found herself in his arms, enjoying his warm touch for the first time.

They stayed in this position for a while until Shinichi bent down to her, touching her forehead with his and stroking her cheek with his hand.

"Sorry." he said.

"What for?" she asked, looking up.

"I soaked you more." he said, flashing his trademark smile.

Shiho looked down at herself and then back to him and smiled sincerely.

"It doesn't matter." she said, "It was worth it."

They headed to the front door and went back inside the house. The lights were out since Shiho hadn't switched them on when she came down. It was all pitch black.

"I'll get a towel." Shinichi whispered, "Just wait here."

"Don't wake up the others." Shiho warned him.

She had hardly said this that the lights went on.

Shinichi and Shiho closed their eyes at the sudden brightness.

_"Too late. We're already up."_

They squinted at the voice's direction and saw Ryu standing next to the living room door. He grinned at their surprised faces. Before they could speak he pointed to the stairs.

"After the questions." he said, "First, turn there."

Shinichi and Shiho turned automatically and they saw two towels flying in their direction; as they caught them, they heard another voice.

_"It's better if you dry yourselves. You'll catch a cold."_

Rei was leaning on the banisters at the bottom of the stairs and smiled at their surprised faces.

"What are you two doing here?" Shinichi asked, looking at both.

"It's your fault." Ryu said, "You woke me up."

"Yes, I was in my rooms and you woke me up." Rei agreed.

Shinichi arched an eyebrow.

"Oh really? And since when do you go to sleep fully dressed?" he asked, looking at their clothes. Ryu and Rei looked at each other, smiling sheepishly.

"Well, all right, I was reading. I couldn't sleep."

"Me, too."

"It seems that no one felt like sleeping tonight." Shiho remarked, "How did you know we were here, anyway?"

"Shinichi left his window open." Ryu replied, "It started banging because of the wind and we both came out of our rooms to see what was wrong. And we also noticed that your room was empty."

"I guessed you were outside." Rei added, "Shinichi always liked to do crazy things like standing in the rain. And the open window only confirmed my suspects."

Then, they exchanged a mischievous look and looked back at the two still in front of the door.

"Well, it seems that you've finally told her, haven't you?" Ryu asked Shinichi.

"And _you_ finally got over your reticence." Rei told Shiho.

Shinichi and Shiho blushed, making the other two grin more.

"How do you know?" Shiho asked the other girl.

"Yeah, were you spying us or something?" Shinichi asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Come on, you know we'd never do that." Rei said, looking at him, "It was a guess. An obvious guess, since we both knew your mutual feelings. You told us everything after all."

"And as an evidence, you're holding hands." Ryu pitched in, "It's something you'd never do."

Shinichi and Shiho blushed again but they didn't let go: their hands were still entwined. They looked at each other and smiled sheepishly.

Rei smiled to herself.

'Finally...' he thought.

Ryu thought the same. He walked towards the staircase.

"Well, it's nearly half past one." he said, "I think we'd better go to sleep: we have to go out tomorrow."

"Yes, we've got to buy plenty of things." Rei agreed, "We'll have to leave early. All right, then goodnight."

"Goodnight." Ryu said and they went back upstairs, after the other two bade them goodnight, too.

Shiho walked in the hall, drying her hair with the towel while Shinichi, noticing the small puddle of water around him, stayed at the entrance squeezing his clothes.

They stayed in silence for a few minutes.

"Ehm... Shiho?"

The girl looked up and saw Shinichi looking at her, blushing slightly. She felt that jolt in her heart again. It would take her a bit to get used to hear him call her with her first name. And it seemed that he was in her same situation.

"Yes?" she said.

"When you said... ehm.. From a long time..." he said rather embarrassed, "Before, when we were outside... How much time did you mean?"

Shiho looked at him and smiled. A sincere smile that made Shinichi's heart skip a beat.

"I don't know exactly the date.." she said, "..but it must have been a few months after we met."

Shinichi stared at her.

'So long?' he thought incredulously, 'And I never noticed it?'

His thoughts must have been clearly written on his face because Shiho stifled a laugh. He understood immediately.

"Don't say it." he warned approaching her but she didn't even bother at him.

"You are really clueless, Shinichi." she remarked, teasingly, "Great detective but clueless when it comes to feelings."

He grimaced but then a smile spread on his face.

"For this time, I agree." he said, "But remember, only for this time. Anyway, it's better if we go to sleep otherwise we won't be able to do anything tomorrow."

They went upstairs and they stopped in front of their bedrooms' doors.

"Goodnight Shiho." he said with a smile, rubbing his hair with a towel.

"Goodnight, Shinichi." she replied and went inside her room. When she closed the door behind her and was finally alone in her room, Shiho really realized what had happened that night.

She leaned on the door as the wave of feelings washed through her.

Shinichi loved her: he confessed his feelings and she confessed hers. And then... She touched her lips and smiled slightly. She felt happiness surge inside her: she had felt a similar joyful sensation only when she was with Akemi.

As she thought of her sister, Shiho remembered something she had said during their last meeting.

FLASHBACK

Akemi and Shiho were sitting at the table of a bar.

It had been a long time since they had met each other but, unfortunately, they couldn't spend a lot of time together. Shiho had to go back to work on her project while Akemi had been assigned to a work with two other agents. The blonde girl noticed a strange worried look in her sister's eyes that contrasted her cheerful tone.

"One-chan, are you sure you're all right?" Shiho asked her elder sister, after they had been talking for a while, "I've heard you had a few problems.."

Akemi smiled.

"Yes, I'm fine, don't worry." she reassured her, "I know what I'm doing."

She looked up and saw that her sister was still concerned. She didn't show it openly because she the Organisation had taught her to guard her feelings but Akemi could see her real emotions. Always. And now, she could see a glint of concern in her eyes.

"Don't worry, Shiho. I'm fine. But what about you?" she asked, "You know, I think you should stop thinking of that poison for once and start living as a normal girl."

She checked the time.

"Do you have to go?" Shiho asked.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I wish I could stay a bit more but I can't be late today." Akemi said, "Anyway, you should take my advise seriously, sis." Shiho arched an eyebrow. This made Akemi smile again. "I'm serious. I don't know... make friends with someone or find yourself a boyfriend.."

Akemi got up and took the bill that was on their table. Then, she turned around.

"Really, sis, you should have fun." she said with a wink, "You're only seventeen after all."

END FLASHBACK

That had been the last time she had met her sister: Akemi died shortly after, killed by Gin.

However, Shiho couldn't help thinking of that last words.

'Make friends with someone... find a boyfriend... have fun... stop thinking of the poison' she thought, 'Well, it's happening now and... all thanks to you, One-chan.'

All thanks to her.

Thanks to Akemi.

She was the one that contacted Ryu, pleading him to help her younger sister out of the Black Organisation and starting the operation called MYSTERY, in which she was working now, too.

Ryu that has become a friend and a brother to her.

And with her death, Akemi brought Shinichi and Rei in Shiho's life. Shinichi, the one who could have saved Akemi and that witnessed her last moments of life.

Shinichi, the boy Shiho loved with all her heart. Then, Rei, the one that looks so much like her sister and that was involved in MYSTERY from the beginning.

Rei that has become her best friend.

Thanks to Akemi, Shiho had found friendship, love but also a family. It was something she had never had before.

"Thanks, one-chan..." she said softly.

And she got ready to go to bed.

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Chapter 19 is finished. I hope you liked it: a few reviewers have been asking for a romantic scene between Shiho and Shinichi and.. here it is! I know you had to wait a lot for this to happen but I had to sort out all the other things and then put the romance. I've got the story plan in my head and it has to go on in this way.

Anyway, I might upload the last three chapters again: I uploaded them as HTML documents and the paragraphs are inexistent. I think I'll use WordPad again...

REVIEW!

Bye!

A.N: corrections made


	21. Back to school

Four points of the same star

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Detective Conan.

-……- transceiver talk.

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR Chapter 20: Back to school.

It was Monday morning.

Going back to school after the weekend is always hard and the students in class 2-A weren't different from the others. The bell was going to ring but many desks were still empty and the students that were already in class were talking to each other in small groups.

It seemed to be another normal Monday morning.

Until…

The door opened and Shinichi entered the room.

It was as though a spell had been put on because the low buzzing in the class vanished instantly. The young detective ignored the situation: he had foreseen such a reaction. He walked into the classroom and looked around, trying to remember where he used to sit. Since he didn't remember, he took a seat next to the window.

Everybody stared at him for a second, then the whispers started again, a bit more energetically.

"Look, Kudo is back."  
"I thought he had dropped school to work on cases in America."  
"Yeah, me too."

Shinichi was looking out of the window, but he could hear all the comments that were flying in the room. He sighed inwardly.

'And this is just the beginning.' he thought, 'The situation will get worse when Ran and Sonoko will come. Not to mention when the others will be introduced…'

He couldn't help to smile slightly as he thought of his three friends' faces when they would come in class. The door opened again and the smile on Shinichi's face faded.

Ran and Sonoko came in.

It didn't take them a lot to notice him. Shinichi gave them a small cordial nod: Sonoko glared at him while Ran smiled slightly. She was going to approach him when the bell rang and door opened again and their teacher entered. All the students went to their desks.

Shinichi nearly sighed with relief.

'Saved by the bell.' he thought. He wasn't ready to face Ran so soon.

Mrs. Akenzai , their English teacher, walked to the desk and put her books on it.

"Good morning class, today we will joined by three new transfer students from the States." she said, looking at her students, "They're all Japanese, so there won't be any language problems. I hope you'll welcome them warmly."

Even though they were four desks away, Shinichi could clearly hear Sonoko talk to Ran.

"They're all from New York and they moved there because of their parents' work." she said, "I'm sure that there is at least a boy among them."

Shinichi smirked.

'Ryu will go against some very annoying trouble with Sonoko.' he thought, 'Anyway, if her spy network had collected this information, then the story we have made up has worked. Everyone thinks that they are only three normal transfer students.'

Mrs Akenzai turned to the door.

"You can come in." she said.

The same silence that had welcomed Shinichi greeted the three new ones. They walked inside and stood in front of the black board. Nearly all the boys' mouths dropped open but many girls were gaping, too.

"Hello, everybody. My name is Reila Ikeda."  
"Hello, my name is Ryuji Kazama."  
"Hello, my name is Shiho Miyano."

There was a general murmur in the class, now. Ryu, Rei and Shiho had made a good impression. Mrs. Akenzai coughed a few times to get silence.

"All right now." she said, turning to the three, "You can choose a seat."

They looked around the room and finally found who they were looking for.

Sonoko was still staring at Ryu with a dreamy expression and heart-shaped eyes, when she realised that there was an empty seat next to her. She was going to call him but Ryu just walked past her. Slightly disappointed, she turned around to see where he was going.

The rest of the class did the same.

They walked to the back of the room where Shinichi was. To everybody's surprise, the new ones smiled at him and he grinned back. Shiho sat next to him while Rei and Ryu sat behind them.

"By the way, Shinichi Kudo. Besides saying that it's quite a surprise to see you again." the teacher said with a slight smile, " I ask you to show the school to Ikeda, Kazama and Miyano since you already know them. Is that all right?"

"Sure." Shinichi replied. He didn't notice the death glares that the other students were sending him.

But the others did.

"I think that the school tour will be very dangerous for you, Shinichi." Shiho whispered.

"It's your fault." he replied, sarcastically, "You're the popular ones and I risk my life with your admirers."

"Oh, poor thing.." Rei said lowly, making the other three smile.

Mrs. Akenzai had resumed to talk so all the students had turned back to her.

All but Ran who was still glancing at Shinichi. She felt uneasy. He had told her that he was in love with another girl and there were two girls with him.

One was Ikeda. Ran remembered her: she was very close to Shinichi when she was studying here three years ago. The other was Miyano but Ran had never seen her before, even though , she had to admit, that she looked familiar.

Ran snapped out of her thoughts when the teacher started writing something on the board.

'I'll find a way to talk to him later.' she thought and opened her notebook to take notes.

-

The hours dragged by so slowly that more than once Shinichi checked if his watch was working correctly. He had never felt so bored. He thought that the others must feel even worse than him: he had given the exams for high school only a month ago but they had given them years ago.

When the bell for lunch break rang, they all sighed in relief.

"And this is just the first day.." Ryu remarked.

"I wonder how we'll be in a few weeks." Rei said.

"Well, that's not our main problem now." Shinichi remarked, standing up.

"What do you mean?" Shiho asked.

"It's lunch break and this means nearly an hour and a half of free time in which every student of this class will start to approach us. So, to avoid the annoyance, I think we could pick our lunches, leave the room quickly and eat outside. I will also show you around afterwards."

The other three nodded and they left the room a few seconds later.

Sonoko was the first to notice their absence, well, Ryu's absence.

She looked around and then turned to Ran.

"Hey, did you see where he has gone?" she asked.

"No, I think they all left together." Ran suggested, "Shinichi has to show them the school. Maybe, he'll do it after lunch."

"Oh, why did the teacher choose him? I would have done it immediately. It would have been a chance to know him better."

Ran smiled: Sonoko never changed. If she saw a good-looking boy, she tried to talk to him in every way. She had to admit that Ryu was really cute: blonde hair, light blue eyes covered by thin eyeglasses, well built figure.

'Sonoko will have a lot of competition.' she thought.

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"Nobody will disturb us here."

Shinichi had taken Ryu, Rei and Shiho on the school's rooftop: it was totally desert. Ryu looked around and nodded.

"What about having lunch?" he suggested, smiling slightly, "We didn't have what can be called a decent breakfast this morning, did we?"

The girls smirked slightly, remembering what had happened that morning.

FLASHBACK

It was only seven o'clock but they were all already up. It was their first day of school after all and they couldn't help feeling a bit nervous.

Rei, Shiho and Ryu were in their rooms: they weren't used to wear a uniform and they were dressing quite slowly. Shinichi that had dressed in a few seconds had gone downstairs to prepare breakfast and get the newspapers.

They had gone shopping on Friday, so the pantry and the fridge were finally full. But they hadn't only bought food: Ryu, Rei and Shiho had used the credit card the Kudos had given them and had bought the school uniforms along with the necessary stationery material but they also bought clothes. Especially Shiho.

Shinichi, on the other hand, bought the so yearned motorbike: a Hornet 900, painted metallic blue. He also took the license the same day. He also bought two full-covered helmets and two leather jackets. They had decided to go to school or anywhere else with their motorbikes: Rei would have gone with Ryu, so…

'Shiho will go with me.' Shinichi had thought with a smile as he paid the merchandise.

Anyway, when they came back home, they were so full of bags that Professor teased them asking if they were going to move somewhere.

Speaking of Professor…

"Shinichi, did Agase show up?" Ryu asked, as he walked into the kitchen, adjusting his tie.

"No, not yet." the other replied, "I suppose we'll have to go and ask him if he has finished." He turned around, "What was his idea, anyway?"

Ryu shrugged.

"I have no idea." he said, "He mentioned that he wanted to help us, bettering our things. He said something like –I want to help you since you don't have the devices anymore."

"What do the devices have got to do with our two motorbikes and four helmets?"

"I told you: I don't know."

"What don't you know?" Rei asked, overhearing the conversation as she came in with Shiho.

"What Agase's up to with our bikes and helmets." he answered.

"It's probably something important." Shiho remarked, "He has been working a lot in the past months: he never left the lab."

Shinichi thought this over.

"You're right." he agreed, "I wonder what's he up to?"

As an answer to his question, the doorbell rang.

"Seems that we'll find out soon." Ryu said.

He went to the door, followed by the others and opened it. Agase came in, carrying a large box.

"Good morning, Professor." he said, helping him.

"Good morning." the old scientist said. Then, seeing the other teenagers, he greeted them too. "I'm sorry if I'm late but I was finishing the last adjustments."

"What have you been doing exactly?" Shinichi asked, taking one of the helmets from the box and examining it carefully.

"I'll tell you later.." Agase replied quickly, "First, I have to give you these.." He put his hand in his lab coat's pocket and drew out a few objects. "All right, these are yours, Ryu-kun." He handed him a pair of eyeglasses, "They have a more powerful radar built in and the usual transceiver."

"And it can also be a good disguise." Ryu added, putting them on, "Thanks."

"This is for you, Shinichi-kun." Agase continued, handing him the earring telephone, "I have installed a more enduring battery that you an charge every 24 hours."

"Great." he said simply.

Professor turned to the girls.

"Rei-kun, these are the x-ray glasses and the mini- computer I gave you last time." he said, "I've bettered them and the glasses have a transceiver, too. Shiho-kun, here's a mini-computer for you, too and an earring telephone like Shinichi-kun's."

The girls thanked Professor with a small smile as they took the devices.

"So this is what you've been working on for the last weeks.." Ryu remarked, "Right, Agase?"

"Well, not only on that…" the old scientist said cryptically, "I worked on another few things."

"By the way, what did you do the motorbikes and the helmets?" Shinichi asked with curiosity.

"Oh yes." Agase said. He took the other helmets and handed them to Ryu, Rei and Shiho. "Shinichi-kun, there is a small button on the right side: press it."

The young detective touched the right side of the helmet and felt two small buttons.

Which one?" he asked, "There are two here."

"The first one." Professor replied. He turned to the other three that were waiting for an explanation as much as Shinichi. "I put a transceiver in the helmets: in this way you can talk to each other while you're on your bikes. But the helmets can also be connected to the transceivers in your eyeglasses and to the earring phones."

He picked up another helmet.

"On the right, there are two buttons: you can choose to communicate to another helmet or to the other transceivers. On the left there are four buttons: if we take Shinichi-kun, for example, he can choose whether to talk to one of you three or to all, pressing a button. And no one will notice the buttons since they are the helmet's same color."

Professor then pressed a button on the right, then one on the left.

"Shinichi-kun, put the helmet on." he said, "Ryu-kun, you put this one on and say something."

The boys did as they were told.

_- Do you here me, Shinichi?-  
__-Yeah and pretty clearly.-_

"It works really well." Ryu said, taking off the helmet, "You did a great job Agase."

The old scientist swelled with pride at the compliment.

"What did you do to the motorbikes?" Rei asked, putting her helmet on the table.

"I didn't do much since they're both in excellent conditions. I just added a thin transparent pellicle to the tires: it' not bullet proof but it shouldn't allow the tires to burst easily either."

A blank silence greeted his words. Agase looked around at the four teenagers.

"Something wrong?" he asked uncertainly.

"You remember me the scientist that helps James Bond, you know Professor?" Ryu said.

"Yeah, the one that gave him those amazing devices that always helped him in his missions." Shinichi agreed.

Agase seemed very pleased by the comparison.

"Well, all right. That's all I had to give you." he said, heading to the door, "See you later."

"Bye Professor." they called out as he left.

"Agase has taken Matt's words seriously, hasn't he?" Rei remarked as the door closed.

"Even more than usual." Shiho said.

"Well, it's not bad, isn't it?" Ryu said, "We have a way to keep on touch in every moment now. Even if Matt says that the Organization will not be after us for a while, I don't think we should be off guard. By the way, I was thinking that we should always move in group or, at least in couples. Just in case, you know. We never know what could happen."

The other three nodded in agreement. Just then, a hissing sound came from the kitchen followed by a burnt smell.

"Damn it.." Shinichi muttered under his breath, dashing into the kitchen, "Breakfast…"

Ryu, Rei and Shiho heard him curse loudly a few seconds later.

"I suppose we won't have breakfast this morning." Shiho remarked.

"Good thing we had already prepared our lunch." Rei said, "Anyway, what's the time?"

"Half past seven." Ryu replied, "We should go.

"Let's get Shinichi and then leave." Rei said and the other two nodded.

END FLASHBACK

"By the way, I think we should take turns doing things like breakfast, lunch and so on…" Rei said, as they were eating the sandwiches they had prepared for lunch, "In this way we won't risk to skip breakfast every morning."

"It got all burnt up only because we all went to see what Agase had brought." Shinichi said, defending himself.

"Of course.." she replied, sarcastically.

"Very funny, Rei." Shinichi remarked, making the others smile, "Anyway, if you're finished I'll show you the school now. In this way, we won't waste time this afternoon."

The others got up and they went around the school. Shinichi gave Ryu, Rei and Shiho a quick but complete tour: classrooms, labs, teachers' offices and the grounds.

They came back to their classroom just when the bell rang. By the dark looks he received, Shinichi guessed that his idea to eat outside and do the school tour now had been wise. Otherwise, the whole class would have annoyed Ryu, Shiho and Rei.

"Good guess." Shiho said softly to him. She had noticed the other students look, too.

Shinichi smiled at her.

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Sonoko was furious.

She had hoped to talk to Kazama during lunch break but he had gone away with Shinichi and the two new girls. She thought she could have a chance to speak to him at the end of the lessons but he seemed to have left the moment the bell rang and she didn't know where he lived or even where he could have gone.

"I lost a chance today." she said loudly, as she was walking home with Ran, "I'll try to get to him tomorrow."

"Sonoko, he had just arrived." Ran remarked, slightly amused by her friend's firmness, "Why don't you give him time to settle in and…"

"No, I don't want to waste time." Sonoko cut through her, "Nearly all the girls in our class put their eyes on Kazama and, if I wait another few days, the whole school will be after him. He will get as popular as Shinichi: I bet it."

As Shinichi was mentioned, Ran's eyes clouded: she hadn't talked to him at all and she was beginning to wonder if she would ever find the courage to do it.

Sonoko seemed to notice her friend's change so she began to think of a way to help both.

Then the idea came.

"Ran!" she said loudly, making her friend jump, "We can go to Shinichi-kun's house."

"WHAT?" Ran said, looking her friend as though she had gone mad.

"Yes, in this way you can talk to him and I'll ask him everything about Kazama-kun, since he knows him. We can go.. let's see.. tomorrow. What do you think?"

"Sonoko, I can't."

"Why not?"

"Kazuha and Heiji-kun will come to visit me tomorrow."

"Who? Oh, yes, your friends from Osaka: another detective and his girlfriend."

"Exactly. I can't come with you tomor…"

"But that's great." Sonoko cut through her again, "We can take them with us. This detective is a friend of Shinichi-kun, right?

"Yes, Heiji-kun is Shinichi's friend."

"Well, we can go all together to Shinichi-kun's house tomorrow saying that since they came from Osaka to visit you, they could meet him, too."

Ran didn't know how to retort. Sonoko had thought of everything. She sighed.

"All right. I'll call Kazuha and tell her that Shinichi is back and if she and Heiji-kun would like to see him." she said, " Satisfied?"

"Great." Sonoko said with glee, "Well, see you tomorrow, Ran. Bye."

"Bye."

As she watched her friend cross the street, Ran couldn't help thinking that thanks to her she had found a way to talk to Shinichi privately.

'What could I do without her?' she thought. Then, smiling to herself, Ran walked home.

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The next day was similar to the previous one besides the fact that Rei prepared breakfast and didn't burn up anything.

The four teenagers went to school pretty early: they had decided to do this so that no one would bother them. They came to school at seven forty, parked the motorbikes behind the school and went to class. They were the first ones to arrive.

"If we do like this everyday we won't have to worry about being annoyed by anyone." Shinichi remarked, sitting at his desk, "Especially you, Ryu."

Ryu looked up as he said this.

"Me?" he asked, "Why?"

It was Rei that replied.

"Didn't you notice yesterday?" she asked with a small smile, "All the girls of the class were gaping at you. Especially Suzuki."

"Who?" he asked.

"Sonoko Suzuki, Ran's best friend." Shinichi said, "Blonde hair, screeching voice and the who-cares-as-long-as-I'm-pleased attitude."

Shiho and Rei smirked as they heard the description. Ryu looked at Shinichi, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, from the way you've described her, she seems like a human bomb or something." he said, "Anyway, if she asks me something, I can just tell her…ehm.. the truth."

He glanced at Rei when he said this and she smiled.

"Uhm.. that would be a good answer for any girl but I don't think it would be enough for Sonoko." Shinichi said, smirking at the look on Ryu's face, "She's very, very stubborn when it comes to a boy she likes."

"And that means always.." Shiho remarked, "The few times I've met her in past, she was always after someone."

"Not to mention that her dislike on Rei will multiply for ten." Shinichi added.

Rei looked up this time.

"Dislike?" she asked, "No, wait a minute… She's _still_ mad with me for what happened last time?"

Shinichi nodded, trying to hide the smile that was willing to spread on his face. Ryu and Shiho looked at the other two with curiosity.

"What happened?" Shiho asked Shinichi.

"Yeah, what did you do?" Ryu asked Rei.

Rei frowned slightly.

"Three years ago, when I came here from Europe, I was assigned to Shinichi's class. That was when we became friends and we spent a lot of time together…"

"And this gave us a lot of problems." Shinichi pitched in, "Rei became very popular in the six months she was here: nearly every boy of the school was after her. So, obviously, I was in a very risky position."

"Hey, I had my problems, too." Rei retorted, "You were and still are pretty popular too."

"We know that." Ryu said, "But why does Suzuki.. ehm.. dislike you?"

"She liked a boy that was a year ahead of us. Well, this guy never showed any interest on her but she didn't give up." Rei explained, "One day he came in our class and Suzuki thought he came for her."

"But he didn't, right?" Shiho said.

"No, he came for Rei." Shinichi replied, "We were talking together when he approached us and asked her if she wanted to meet at a bar near the school. To talk and know each other: that's what he said."

"What did you do?" Ryu asked, turning to Rei.

"I refused." she replied.

"As usual." Shinichi added, making her smile.

"Yes, as usual." she admitted, "He went away crestfallen and Suzuki tried to talk to him but without success. I never understood why but she gave me the fault of it."

"And she's still mad for this?" Ryu asked , "After three years?"

"She's got a long memory." Shinichi replied sarcastically. He eyed the door, "Speak of the devil."

Sonoko and Ran came in, followed by other students. They noticed immediately the four at the back of the class who greeted them with a cordial nod. Sonoko smiled broadly at Ryu, ignored Shiho and gave a withering glare to Shinichi and Rei. Ran, on the contrary, smiled politely at them.

Rei leaned forward to Shinichi.

"She hates me, all right, but what did you do to her?" she asked softly.

"Ran." he replied.

"I see." she said and then, turned to her side, "Ryu, you're her favorite one and , Shiho, you're safe since she doesn't know you."

"For now." Shiho remarked softly. Shinichi turned to look at her as she said this. She glanced at him and then at Ran that was sitting at her desk.

"Don't worry." he reassured her, "I'll find a way."

She smiled slightly at him. The bell rang a few seconds later and everyone went back to his seat waiting for the lesson to begin.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shinichi, Ryu, Rei and Shiho did the same things they had done the day before: they managed to be alone and avoid the other students. They didn't think it would have been a good idea to draw attention… even though, usually, they drew attention without wanting to.

When the bell rang at the end of the day, they quickly left the class and headed to their bikes. It was only two days that they were there and nobody had still noticed that they came to school with their bikes. They secretly hoped that it would have lasted.

As they drove home, they talked to each other with the new devices Agase had made. They wondered what they would have done that evening. They had homework to do but the thing didn't worry them a bit: English and Mathematics weren't a problem.

_-Matt said that he would sent us a few mails, telling us how things are going on in America.- _Ryu said, _-He said that he would send them either today or tomorrow.-_

_-Kuroba said something like that too.- _Rei said, _-He said he would have contacted us after a few weeks. Maybe, he'll show up in these days, too.-_

_-So, we just have to wait them to contact us, right?- _Shiho asked.

_-Yes- _the two replied.

_-Good thing nobody comes to visit us- _Shinichi remarked, _-Otherwise, we'll have to behave even more secretively than usual.-_

How wrong was he…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Four people were walking towards the Kudos' house: Ran, Sonoko along with a girl with shoulder length dark hair and dark eyes and a boy with short black hair, dark blue eyes, swarthy and with a cap on his head.

"Are you sure Kudo-san won't mind if we just appear at his door without even telling him before?" Kazuha asked Ran, "You said that he just got back.."

"Don't worry." Ran reassured her, "He won't mind. I'm sure of that."

"When did he come back anyway?" Heiji asked her.

"He came to school yesterday." she replied, "I don't know exactly when he came back."

"Oh, ok."

Heiji thought this over. He had been surprised when Kazuha had told him that Kudo was back and that they were going to visit him with Ran and her friend Sonoko when they were going to Tokyo. The last time he had heard him, Kudo was still Conan.

'It talked to him only a few months ago.' he thought, 'When did he turn back to normal? And most of all, _how_ did he manage to do it? If he's normal, it means that he has taken the antidote… and that would mean that he has got involved with that Organization again. By the way, has he gone mad? That men want him dead and he goes to school! I think he's up to something: Kudo's not a fool. He knows how many risks he can go against. I'll talk to him…. Well, I'll try. I have to find a way to distract Kazuha, Ran-san and Suzuki first.'

"Here we are." Sonoko exclaimed, snapping him out of his thoughts.

They were standing in front of the Kudos' house. Once again, Heiji was surprised by its size. It could be called mansion not simply house. But then, he quickly noticed a few changes.

There were two motorbikes on the left side of the house: a gray one and the other was metallic blue. He wondered to who they belonged.

'Kudo doesn't have a motorbike.' he thought, 'I'm sure of that.'

The girls hadn't noticed the vehicles and they walked to the front door. Heiji followed them, noticing that the lawn was in order.

'If Kudo came back a few days ago, he couldn't have cleaned this whole place alone. Maybe Agase helped him..'

Ran reached to the doorbell and rang it. They waited for a few minutes but no one came to open the door. She rang the bell again, but still nothing.

"Maybe, he has gone out." Kazuha said, looking at her.

"Yes, maybe.." Ran said. She couldn't hide her disappointment.

Sonoko didn't think the same: she had come here to get information about Kazama and she wasn't going away without them.

"SHINICHI KUDO!" she shouted, pounding on the front door, "Are you deaf? Open this door!"

Ran shook her head incredulously while Kazuha and Heiji were quite shocked by Sonoko's behavior. They didn't know her well as Ran did.

Ran was just going to stop her friend from breaking down the door when it opened.

"About tim…" Sonoko remarked but stopped very suddenly, because she found herself face to face with Rei.

Even though she didn't show it, Rei was very surprised to see Ran, Sonoko and the other two teens, that she didn't know, in front of her. Anyway, Sonoko voiced her thoughts.

"What are _you_ doing here?" she asked.

"Good evening, Suzuki-san." Rei said, ignoring her question and her rude tone, "Good evening, Mouri-san. Then, she turned to the others and smiled, "Hello."

Heiji blushed slightly: Rei's charm had effect once again. Fortunately for him, Kazuha didn't notice it. She smiled at Rei.

"Hello." she said.

"I suppose you're here to see Shinichi, right?" Rei said, letting them in the hall.

Ran felt a pang when she heard her call him with his first name: she had forgotten that she used to do it three years ago.

"Yes, we're here to see him." Sonoko replied, hastily, "Where is he? And what are you…?"

She stopped again and her mouth dropped open.

Shiho came out from the studio, holding a book. She looked up as Rei called her and noticed the small crowd that was with her.

"Shiho, where's Shinichi?" she asked.

"In his room." she replied, in her usual monotone voice. She put the book on the telephone table and approached her friend.

The two girls looked at the visitors and fought back a laugh with difficulty.

The look on their faces was priceless: shock (Sonoko), bewilderment (Ran), confusion (Kazuha) and slight embarrassment (Heiji).

Before the situation degenerated, Shinichi showed up. He had been resting in his room when he heard some familiar shouts and then, the pounding that forced him to get up. He went downstairs slightly annoyed.

"What's going on?" he asked loudly. Then, he noticed Ran, Sonoko, Heiji and Kazuha standing in the hall. Rei and Shiho saw the clear surprise on his face.

"Guests." Shiho replied, as he approached them.

"For you." Rei added.

"Oh.. yes." he said, wondering why they had come, "Hi Ran, Sonoko. How you're doing, Hattori? And you Toyama?"

"Hi, Kudo." Heiji replied, "I'm fine, thanks."

"Me too, Kudo-san, thanks." Kazuha replied.

"How come you're from Osaka?" Shinichi asked.

"Just a visit." Heiji said, "We had some free time."

"Oh, I see and…"

"Hey, wait!" Sonoko cut through their dialogue, "What are they doing here?" she asked, pointing to Shiho and Rei.

"They live here." Shinichi replied and, immediately regretted to have answered so quickly.

Ran, Sonoko, Kazuha and Heiji looked at him with an expression that was half between surprise and shock.

On the other side, Rei, Shiho and Shinichi were fighting hard not to burst out laughing. They had clearly understood the reason of their strange reaction: they thought that Shinichi lived _alone_ with two girls. No wonder they were surprised.

Sonoko was the first one to find the ability to speak again.

"What do you mean with –_They live here?_" she asked with bewilderment, "How can they…?"

For the third time in less than ten minutes, Sonoko stopped and her mouth dropped open.

Ryu appeared from the living room: he was holding a Mp3 reader. He quickly noticed the crowd in the hall and approached them, leaving the reader on top of Shiho's book.

"Hello, Mouri and Suzuki." he greeted and turned to Heiji and Kazuha with a smile, "Hello.. I don't think we've ever met, have we?"

Heiji shook his head. Kazuha, instead, had blushed deeply as she saw Ryu and didn't answer.

Noticing the strange atmosphere, Shinichi decided that he had to do something.

"Well, since we're all here, I can make the introductions." he said, "Hattori, Toyama, these are my friends Ryuji Kazama, Reila Ikeda and Shiho Miyano: they're transfer students from America. Rei, Shiho, Ryu, these are Heiji Hattori and Kazuha Toyama: they're from Osaka. Hattori is a detective and Toyama is his girlfr… childhood friend. You already know Ran and Sonoko."

He was going to say girlfriend but the look on Heiji's face made him change his mind.

Ryu, Rei and Shiho shook hands with the Osaka teens. Sonoko was still slightly shocked to see Ryu there and didn't talk for a while but Ran, on the other hand, noticed that Shinichi had called the new students by first name. All of them, including the girls… She felt another pang of jealousy.

There was a moment of embarrassed silence: nobody knew what to do. Finally, Shinichi decided to take control of the situation.

"Well, come on. Let's go in the living room." he said to his guests, "It's better than standing here."

The small group went inside the large living room. Kazuha looked around with awe: she had never been in Shinichi's house and was impressed by its size and elegance. Heiji noticed that everything was gleaming. Once again, he thought that Kudo couldn't have done everything alone.

Sonoko, Ran, Kazuha and Heiji sat on a couch. Shinichi, Shiho and Ryu sat on the other couch and the armchair. Rei was standing next to the couch. She looked down at Shinichi.

"Shall I bring something to drink?" she asked.

"What? Oh, yes, thanks." he said. Then, he smiled sheepishly, "I should be the one to think of these things."

Rei smiled back and turned to the guests.

"Do you want something to drink?" she asked, "Coffee, tea, soft drinks?"

"Yes, please." Kazuha replied, "I'd like a soft drink."

Ran and Sonoko took the same while Heiji took a cup of coffee. Rei left for the kitchen, followed by Shiho and, to Sonoko's disappointment, by Ryu. Shinichi had the fleeting sensation that they were trying to escape from 'his' guests.

"Well.." he said, as the others left, "How come you're here?"

"We came to visit Ran-san." Heiji replied, "And she told us that you had come back so we decided to visit you, too. By the way, when did you come back?"

Shinichi heard a strange hint in his question and understood the reason immediately. Hattori knew about the Organisation, about his shrinking in Conan and the dangers he went against turning back to normal.

'He's probably wondering why I didn't tell him anything.' he thought, 'Well, I can't tell him now, in front of Ran, Sonoko and Toyama. I'll find a way to talk to him later. I… we also have to tell him about our plan: his help is necessary.'

"I came back on Thursday." he lied, "I finished working on the cases in America and came back home with others."

At the mention of –the others- Sonoko came back to life.

"Hey, how come Kazama and the other two are living here?" she asked with a questioning look.

'Now I understand why the others went away. They didn't want to go through Sonoko's third degree.' Shinichi thought, wishing he could leave too. He sighed inwardly. 'And this is just the beginning.'

"Well, they told me they were going back to Japan, to Tokyo, so I suggested they could stay here at my place instead of looking for a house." he answered, "There's plenty of space here."

"And you let them all live here?"

"Yes."

"The girls, too?"

Shinichi was getting tired..

"Yes, all. And the girls, too." he said, "What's wrong with that?"

Sonoko glared at him.

'What's wrong with that?' she thought, 'He lives with two girls and doesn't think of Ran! What a jerk…'

"Where did you meet, anyway?" she asked.

"New York."

"How?"

"We helped on a case he was working on."

She turned and saw that it was Ryu that had spoken.

He was carrying a tray with three glasses, followed by Rei and Shiho, both carrying a small tray: one with a cup of coffee and a saucer, the other with a plate of biscuits. They served the drinks and offered the biscuits. Shinichi got up and let Rei and Shiho sit on the couch while he sat on its arm. Ryu sat on the armchair.

Heiji took a sip of coffee and looked up.

"You helped him with his cases?" he asked.

"Yes, we met a few ago while he was working on a case in New York and we helped." Rei said.

"What help could you did you give him?" Sonoko asked, staring at her.

"A bit of everything." Shinichi replied quickly but his answer was too vague to satisfy Sonoko. The others pitched in.

"I'm a bit good with computers, so I helped him with researches."

"I'm.. a bit good in science, so I helped with testing."

"I know New York pretty well, so I helped him go around for evidences."

Shinichi smirked slightly when he heard the girls say that they were –a _bit_ good-.

The guests, especially Sonoko, went on asking details about their meeting, the cases they worked on and so on. It was nearly seven o'clock when they decided to leave.

Shinichi, Rei, Ryu and Shiho said goodbye to Heiji and Kazuha, telling that they hoped to meet them soon and told Ran and Sonoko that they would have met at school.

As he closed the front door when they left, Shinichi sighed with relief.

"That was tiring.." he muttered.

"Good thing, Matt and Kuroba didn't contact us today." Rei said.

"By the way, when are you going to tell Hattori about his role in the plan?" Shiho asked, turning to Shinichi, "If I'm not mistaken, he said he's leaving tomorrow."

"I wanted to do it today but I didn't find the right moment." he said, "I'll have to wait the next time he shows up. And who knows when it will be."

Ryu walked past the living room and stopped abruptly.

"Ehm.. I think we'll see him soon." he remarked, walking in.

The others turned around.

"Why?" Rei asked.

Ryu reappeared again, holding something in his hand.

"He left this on the table." he said, with a slight smile, "On purpose."

"So, he'll show up soon." Shiho remarked.

Shortly after she said this, they heard a knock on the door.

"Here he is." Shinichi said as he went to open.

Heiji was standing there, slightly out of breath because he had run. He looked straight at Shinichi.

"Kudo, tell me what's going on." he said, "But be quick, they're waiting for me down the street: I've got only five minutes."

"Come on, Hattori." Shinichi said, "We'll explain."

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"That Baka… How could he have forgotten his wallet?"

Kazuha, Ran and Sonoko were standing near the small supermarket at the end of the street, waiting for Heiji. He had dashed back to Shinichi's house a few seconds ago when he realised that his pocket was empty. A gust of wind made the girls shiver.

"I hope he'll hurry." Sonoko complained, "I'm freezing."

Ran kept silent: she hadn't talked for the whole evening. Even at Shinichi's house, she only listened to the others talking. She felt disappointed to have lost the chance to speak to Shinichi alone today. And, most of all, she couldn't stop thinking of his attitude with his new friends.

'All right, Kazama has become a good friend of his but what about Ikeda and Miyano?' she thought, 'I think one of them has to be the girl he has fallen in love with.'

She remembered that Shinichi was always hanging around with Ikeda three years ago. He said they were just friends but, nevertheless, she felt jealous.

'I don't know them after all. Ikeda and Miyano are strangers for me.' she thought again.

She didn't want to jump to conclusions but the doubts remained..

'They're both pretty… _very_ pretty. Ikeda is always gentle and cordial. Miyano is polite but a bit cold… Maybe she behaved like that because she doesn't know us well… They're both Shinichi's friends and.. one could be his girlfriend.'

The only thought made her heart lurch. She snapped out of thoughts only when Kazuha spoke.

"Finally, there he is. Heiji!" she called, "Hurry up!"

-

Heiji's mind was bursting with all the information Shinichi had given in only five minutes.

He couldn't believe that so many things had happened to him in the past months.

'Stop keeping an eye on him for a while and look what he does..' he thought, walking on.

He closed his eyes and organised the thoughts in his mind.

'They have put on a plan to bring down the Organisation. Kudo is involved and so are Kazama, Ikeda and Miyano. FBI is involved and their plan has already started in America. When the police will have finished there, the operation will move here. And here I come. I'll have to inform Dad, while Kudo informs Inspector Megure. The police forces of Tokyo and Osaka will work together

to bring down the Organisation here. But they said that it's still early. I.. we have to wait.'

Heiji remembered their faces when he had suggested to start working immediately without wasting time. It was a stern expression. He also remembered their words.

"Hattori, you don't know what you're going against." Ryu remarked, "Believe me, we would like to go and find them ourselves but a mistake or a carelessness, would mean our and others death."

"If we were the only ones to risk, then we would try." Rei said, "But we can't risk to endanger the other people that are involved in this plan."

"If the Organisation even gets the hint of the plan's vastness and of how many are involved…" Shiho added quietly, "..all their lives would be in danger. We have to be cautious and we can't underestimate them."

"That's why everything is going on the quiet." Shinichi said, "Hattori, you have to wait: when we'll tell you that's it's time to act, you can inform your father. In the meantime, if you hear anything.. strange, call us. We'll see what we can do."

'Wait.' he thought, 'All I have to do now is wait..'

Heiji understood the importance of this plan and he also understood the reason of their caution. He also wondered how Kazama, Ikeda and Miyano got involved: they didn't tell him since he didn't have time. He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Kazuha calling him.

'Oh, well, I'll find out in another moment…' he thought and walked towards the three girls.

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_-Damn it, we're late.-_ Shinichi exclaimed, as he turned left with his motorbike.

_-And it's all Matt's fault.-_ Ryu added, doing the same maneuvering, _-He and his mails in the morning…-_

Matt had sent them a number of e-mails that morning.

Rei had accidentally turned on her laptop and she had noticed them. They had quickly ate breakfast and started to see what he said. Matt wrote them a full account of FBI's operations in order to fulfill MYSTERY: it seemed that the plan was going on well. He also asked help for some computer researching.

They were so absorbed reading his e-mails that they didn't realize that it was a quarter to eight. In less than five minutes they left the house. The thing that bothered them most was not the possibility to be late to class but to be seen by the whole school. Till then, they had gone to school early when there was hardly anyone around. They didn't want to draw attention: unfortunately, their two motorbikes would do it.

_-We're nearly there.-_ Shiho said, when the front gates were visible, -_And it's full of students.-_

_-Let's get prepared for the worst..-_ Rei remarked.

The two motorbikes sped on.

-

Ran and Sonoko were walking past the gates, talking cheerfully. Heiji and Kazuha had left that morning for Osaka and Ran was telling her friend that they had invited them to go and visit them if they had time.

"A visit to Osaka?" Sonoko said thoughtfully, "Well, why not? When can…?"

She stopped when she saw two motorbikes speed past them. Ran stared at them, too.

"Who comes to school by motorbike?" she asked. Sonoko usually knew everything that happened in the school and her eyes widened when she said that she didn't know.

Sonoko tugged to her sleeve.

"Come on, let's see who they are." she said, pulling her friend towards the back of the school where the motorbikes had gone. The two girls hid behind a wall and spied...ehm, watched them.

"They're of our school since they wear our uniforms." Sonoko muttered, "Two.. boys and two girls, but I can't see their faces. Those helmets cover them completely."

'Two girls and two boys?' Ran thought, 'Just like.. them. But, it can't be him: he hasn't got a motorbike.'

She had hardly thought this, that the two boys got down from the motorbikes and took off their helmets. Ran and Sonoko's mouths dropped open as they recognized them.

Ryu and Shinichi held out a hand to help the girls down. Ran and Sonoko were not far from them and they could clearly hear them talk.

"Five to eight.." Ryu remarked, looking at his watch, "It's a record."

"I'd say a miracle." Rei corrected, taking off her helmet, "A miracle a policeman didn't see us."

Shinichi grinned. He turned to Shiho, who was taking off her helmet, too: her reddish-blonde hair cascaded back down to her shoulders. She looked up and met his stare with a puzzled look. The young detective blushed slightly, making her smile.

"We should go, shouldn't we?" she asked, taking her bag and putting her helmet inside the motorbike's trunk.

"Yes and let's get prepared to be bombarded.." Shinichi added, picking his bag and walking towards the entrance. Ryu, Rei and Shiho followed him.

Ran and Sonoko came out of their hiding place as soon as the four had disappeared from view.

They were both speechless.

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Whispers and looks.

These were the two things that greeted Shinichi, Shiho, Rei and Ryu when they entered the school. Their coming in motorbike had made them known by the whole school. They were all regretting the fact that they had come late: till then, the only ones that knew them (the other three, not Shinichi) were their classmates and the kind of mystery around them had helped them to be left alone. But now, things had become worse. Shinichi, Ryu and Rei were kind of used to all this attention but Shiho wasn't. For her it was a totally new thing.

"I feel as though I was a rare animal.." she remarked, as they put their shoes in the cupboard and walked to their classroom. "How do you stand all of this?"

"Ignore it." was the other three's reply, "It's the only way."

Shiho just stared at them. As they entered the classroom and sat at their desks, their classmates hurtled around them.

"Hey, were those your bikes?"  
"Really cool.."  
"Did you buy it in USA or here?"

These were the questions mainly asked to Shinichi and Ryu. The girls had their own trouble.

"Is it true that you two live with Kazama and Kudo?"  
"That's why you came to school together, right?"  
"Oh, you're so lucky!"

Fortunately, the teacher came in, saving the four to answer. As the class settled down, Ryu leaned forward towards Shinichi.

"How do they know that we live together?" he whispered.

"Sonoko." Shinichi whispered back, eyeing the blonde girl sitting a few desks in front of him, "I could bet on it."

"Well, we can forget to pass unobserved without attracting attention." Rei said softly, "Half the school knows us by now."

"And the other half will know us soon." Shinichi said, "Really great… and all because we were late this morning."

"Farewell peace.." Shiho remarked under her breath.

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As they had foreseen, by lunchtime the whole Teitan High knew that Shinichi Kudo was back and that there were three new, very cute transfer students. They managed to escape from their classroom and lunch break but, unfortunately, the rooftop was already crowded by "annoyers" as Shinichi called them.

They decided to go around the grounds: it was surely better than going back to class.

They had already ate lunch and were walking near to the soccer field, ignoring the looks from the other students and the frequent whispering. A few members of the soccer team were playing on the field and, seeing them, Shinichi gasped suddenly, startling the others.

"What's wrong?" Shiho asked, looking at him.

"Shinichi?" Ryu called when he didn't answer.

Still nothing.

Then, without an apparent reason, Shinichi turned around.

"Let's go back." he said urgently.

The other three looked at him with a puzzled expression: his behavior was not normal.

"Why?" Rei asked, "Wha…?"

"Please. I'll explain later." He said, cutting through her words.

Rei, Ryu and Shiho looked at each other: they didn't have a clue of what was going on but since it seemed so important to Shinichi, they did as he asked. They had hardly walked a few meters that a voice reached them.

"_KUDO!"_

'Oh, damn it!' Shinichi thought, recognizing the voice, 'He saw me!'

He began to walk faster, followed by the never so confused Ryu, Rei and Shiho.

"HEY, KUDO!" the voice called again, "_KUDO SHINICHI!_"

Rei turned around curiously, wondering who was calling Shinichi.

It was a boy, probably older than them from what she could see. A tall burly boy with black hair, wearing the typical soccer shorts, shirt and shoes that was running towards them. The last details stirred something in Rei's mind.

'He looks familiar…' she thought, staring at him and walking at the same time, 'But where…? _Of course!'_

Rei stopped on her tracks and blocked Shinichi. Shiho and Ryu stopped, too.

"Ni-chan, isn't that, Kojima-san?" she asked, "Your soccer team's captain at Middle school?"

"Yes, it's him." he replied quickly, "And if we don't hurry, he'll reach us."

"Why are you running away if you know him?" Ryu asked.

Shinichi looked up and saw that his three friends were staring at him. He sighed.

"All right, I'll explain. But I'll do it quickly." he said, "That boy is Isashi Kojima: he's in class 3-B. He's Teitan High's soccer team's captain... He's my captain."

"Then, why on Earth are you running away?" Ryu asked, "You know him."

Shinichi looked at him with slight desperation.

"When I joined the team, he already knew how good I was since we had played together at Middle school. Let's say that he expected a lot from me: he always made me train more than the others but that's not the point..." he said, "I disappeared a few days before a very important match and I stopped coming to school and that means also to practice. You don't know him: he'll kill me before I can even come up with a decent explanation."

"Football is so important to him?" Shiho asked.

"Football is his obsession." Shinichi replied, "Oh, damn, he's coming here."

Kojima was a few feet away from them and he looked slightly annoyed.

"Hey, Kudo!" he said, "I've been calling you for a while, didn't you hear me?"

"Hey, Kojima-san!" Shinichi greeted him, as though he just seen him, "How you're doing?"

The soccer captain arched an eyebrow.

"I'm doing fine. But coming to you.." he said, approaching Shinichi, "Where have you been?"

Shinichi backed a few steps: Kojima was intimidating..

"Uhm.. I was in America working on cases..." he said, hoping to sound convincing, "And... ehm.. it took me a long time... Anyway, did you meet my friends?"

Ryu, Rei and Shiho didn't know whether to laugh or to be worried of Shinichi's behavior. Kojima, however, looked only partially satisfied by his answer: he knew Shinichi was a famous detective.

"Well, all right.. If you had work..." he said, making Shinichi sigh with relief, "Anyway, you're coming back to practice from now on, right?"

Shinichi froze.

Go back to soccer practice? That was the last thing he wanted to do but how could he tell it to Kojima-san?

"Ehm... I... really..." he started but was interrupted by Rei that tugged his arm.

"Kojima-san, do you mind a minute?" she asked and pulled Shinichi to the background, followed by Ryu and Shiho.

"Rei? What's up with you?" Shinichi asked.

"I think it's better if you go back to practice." she said.

This was the last thing Shinichi expected.

"_WHAT?_" he exclaimed, "_No_, I can't. What about all our idea of being secretive and careful? Of being always together, in case something happens?"

"I doubt we can keep on our act of being secretive after our entrance this morning." Shiho remarked, "The whole school knows us by now."

"And, besides that, if we.. you still want to keep on your act, you have to go back to soccer practice." Ryu said, "You're famous: everyone knows you are and what you do and I guess they probably know that you're a football fanatic. Don't you realize that if you don't go, it will be suspicious? We decided to behave normally as any other student and you have to do the same things you did before."

Shinichi hadn't seen the problem from this point of view. He thought this over.

'He's right... Everyone knows I'm in the soccer team. If I leave it, people will start to wonder why..'

They were still discussing when they heard a shout.

"_HEY! WATCH OUT!"_

A soccer ball was flying towards them at full speed. Kojima was far from it and he had had only the time to warn them. Shinichi was at the back with Rei and Shiho. Ryu was the only one at the front.

He blocked the ball on his chest, bounced it on his right knee and kicked it with precision towards the soccer field from the ball had come.

"Wow, nice one, Ryu." Shinichi said impressed. Ryu just smiled.

Kojima had seen this last action, too. He approached Ryu with a odd expression.

"Hey, listen, you... ehm.." he started.

"Kazama." Ryu replied, "Ryuji Kazama."

"Do you play football?"

"I played. Years ago. Why?"

Shinichi had hinted where Kojima-san was coming to. He had noticed that kind of maniac gleam in his eyes. He had to warn Ryu before it was too late.

"Listen, why don't you join our team?" Kojima asked Ryu before Shinichi could even move a step.

'Damn it. Too late...' he thought.

"What? Me?" Ryu asked surprised, "No, I don't..."

"Come on." Kojima coaxed him, "Kudo is good and you're good too. The team will be great."

"It's just... that... well..." Ryu stammered, "I'm a transfer student: I don't know how much time I.."

"Well, all right. Play till you can."

Ryu saw that he was in a dead end. What kind of excuse could he make up now?

Rei sighed and looked at Shiho. They're eyes met and they nodded, knowing what to do. Rei approached Ryu.

"Come on, why don't you do it?" she whispered.

He stared at her.

"What?" he said, taking her to the background, "I can't."

Rei raised an eyebrow.

"You're saying the same things Shinichi said." she remarked.

"Well, one thing is Shinichi. I'm another."

"Why?"

"Listen, we have to stick together. Always. If Shinichi went to practice, I could stay with you and Shiho but if we both go..."

"We'll be alone." Rei said simply, "So?"

"So, I... ehm..."

"Don't tell me that you think we're not able to look after ourselves?" she asked, noticing his embarrassment. Ryu coughed and this confirmed her suspects."Ryu... Do you really think we'll get in trouble if you or Shinichi aren't around?"

"It's not that..." he said, and turned to Shinichi for help but he was busy dealing with Shiho's silent but very successful questioning: her stare was piercing Shinichi like a blade.

The boys found themselves in a position from which they couldn't get away. They looked at each and sighed. They turned around to Kojima who was still waiting.

"All right." they said, "We'll come."

Kojima looked as though all his dreams had come true.

"Great!" he said, "Ok, then, practice is every Tuesday and Thursday. See you!"

He went back to the soccer field with a wide smile. As soon as he disappeared from view, the two boys turned around.

"Satisfied?" they asked with annoyance to the girls.

Both Rei and Shiho smiled mischievously, making them blush.

"Yes." Shiho said, walking past Shinichi.

"For the moment." Rei added, walking past Ryu.

The boys stared at them and then, looked at each other.

"We're too weak, Shinichi." Ryu said.

"Yeah, or they're too strong." Shinichi remarked, "They always win."

They followed the girls back to class, thinking that from now on besides school, researches of information, working on their plan and being always on guard, they also had to go to soccer practice.

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Hi, everyone! Another chapter is up. I hope you liked it: I wanted to put a bit of humor but I'm not sure that I written it well. Anyway, Sorry, sorry, sorry for the delay. I'm all messed up with classes at university and I can't find spare time. I hope to write the next chapters soon but I'm not that sure..

I hope you'll wait...

Thanks for all the reviews: it seems that many of you have appreciated the last chapter very much. I'm glad for that: it was the first time I've ever written a romance scene (if we don't count the one in chapter.. ehm.. 13? 14? Anyway, among Ryu and Rei..).

I hope you'll go on with the reviews.

Thanks to Spede, Dagron, Milky Neon, Me, Thunder5545, irie hart, clau, Megumi 014, ariasunset.

You have sent the reviews before summer and also after I finally updated in September after my computer's problems. Thank you very much.

Anyway, coming back to the story, I think I'll write another couple of chapters about Shinichi, Shiho, Ryu and Rei's school life. Then, I 'll go back to the main story line..

Ok, here you all soon.

REVIEW!

Bye!

A.N: Corrections have been made


	22. Author's note

Author's note.

Hi, everyone! It's Annitha again. I'm writing this short note for all the readers and reviewers.

First of all, thanks for reviews: it's great to see that people appreciate your work. Thank you.

Second: updates. I'm sorry but the updates of my story will have to wait. I'm really crushed with university lessons and tests. I don't have a lot of spare time. To tell the truth, I've been able to write just a line of chapter 21 everyday since the last update and that's not much because, as you all must have noticed, my chapters are pretty long.

I promise that I'll update as soon as it will be possible. Just have patience, please and don't worry. The story will go on.

Anyway, even though I didn't have time to write, many ideas have been coming to my mind and I _think_ that I've come to an ending.

Ehm... have you noticed that I said "_think_"?

Actually, there is a small thing I'd like to ask all of you and I hope you'll answer. In the past months I've figured out that my story will have an ending in more or less 6 chapters.

Well, to tell the truth , this would be the end of part 1.

When I thought of writing the story, I divided it in three parts. Sorry, but I can't tell you what's in the three parts or I'll spoil your fun of reading it.

Anyway, the point is: should I divide these three parts into three different stories with three different titles or should I just continue adding chapters to "Four points of the same star"?

I'm asking you this because I might change the rating if I'll choose the first option.

Please answer with a review or an e-mail. I'll be waiting for them.

Bye!


	23. A symbol

Four points of the same star.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Detective Conan.

A.N: Changes and corrections have been made.

-...- transceiver talk.

'...' thoughts (A.N: Please. Don't confuse with "..." that are dialogues!)

FOUR POINTS OF THES SAME STAR Chapter 21: A symbol.

A few weeks had passed and 'our' four teenagers have just got to school by motorbike.

It was only a quarter past seven but they didn't care: they didn't want to be seen by everyone..

"What do we have this morning?" Shinichi asked as he walked towards the school gates, followed by Ryu and the girls, "History... English... Japanese and... then?"

"Maths and science." Rei replied.

"Oh, _your_ subjects." Ryu remarked, looking at her and Shiho.

The two girls smiled slightly.

"You know, I would be happy of that if I hadn't already done this things years ago." Rei remarked.

"Poor thing, high school level is too easy for you, isn't it?" Shinichi teased her.

Rei ignored his sarcasm.

They went inside and headed to their shoe cupboards.

Ryu hardly had time to open his that a stream of letters fell out. (A.N: It's a typical anime scene and I've always loved it. I really HAD to put it in the story.) He bent down to pick them looking highly embarrassed. The other three smirked. It was a familiar scene: it had happened for the last five days.

"How many admirers, Ryu." Shiho stated, "You're the usual heart breaker, aren't you?"

Ryu got up with the stack of letters in his hands.

"As though I wanted to be one." he muttered, thrusting the stack in his bag; he then looked up at the others with a slight smile, "By the way, I'd like to see what will happen when _you_ three will open your cupboards."

Shinichi, Shiho and Rei first looked at each other and then at their cupboards. They opened them slowly and the same stream poured out. The three sighed as they bent down to pick the letters.

They walked towards their classroom through the desert corridors.

"When do they put them in, anyway?" Shinichi asked, "We take the letters out in the morning and there's nothing when we leave in the evening. So, when?At the crack of dawn?"

"During the night?" Ryu suggested.

"Why don't you think of something more reasonable?" Rei remarked, hearing the boys' nonsense.

"It's probably after we leave." Shiho said simply, "It's the most sensible hypothesis. By the way, what are we going to do with them? I'm new to these things but, since you three are the experts, give me a few hints."

"Option one: read them and give an answer." Rei said.

"Option two: read them and keep them somewhere." Ryu remarked.

"Option three: read them and keep them aside for a bonfire." Shinichi stated.

Shiho stared at him and shook her head, thinking that he didn't deserve an answer.

They reached their class and went to their desks, talking about school.

It was quite a pleasant change for them to think about something else and not of the Organisation. For once, at least in Shiho, Rei and Ryu's case, they could behave like any other seventeen year old and even though they knew it was only a temporary condition, they had decided to enjoy it.

"Isn't it Thursday today?" Rei asked, turning to the boys, "Where are your sports bags?"

"And you noticed it only now?" Ryu remarked with a smirk, "Anyway,no practice today: Kojima-san gave us a day off."

"Yeah," Shinichi , "He said that we have to be in full strength since we've got a match in a few days."

"Don't be so enthusiast." Shiho remarked, noticing the look on his face, "I thought you liked soccer: you did nothing else but bounce a ball when you were Conan"

"I _do_ like soccer but... not.. .now"

"We've already talked about this." Rei remarked, "You have always played in the school's soccer team and it would have been suspicious if you didn't join it after your return. You... we have to be careful but also behave normally, remember? That's why Ryu's with you: you'll keep an eye on each other and enjoy yourselves."

She didn't look at the boys as she said that they would have enjoyed themselves but she could immagine their faces. She glanced at Shiho who had a faint smile on her face and smiled too.

Before the boys could reply, the door opened and a few of their classmates came in.

It was already ten to eight. Another "normal" school day was starting and they hoped that nothing would have happened.

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"Class, I want these researches on my table tomorrow morning, all right? Well, goodbye."

Shinichi groaned as the Japanese teacher left.

The peaceful day that he had hoped for had just been shattered. He turned around and faced the smirking faces of Ryu, Rei and Shiho.

"Well, you find it funny don't you?" he grumbled, "I'd like to see you in my place."

"Come on, it's not _that_ bad." Ryu remarked, hiding a smile, "It's just a research about Bunraku theatre during the Edo period."

Shinichi stared at him.

"The report is _not_ a problem. My partners are." he stated, "You three are lucky: knowing how you work together, you'll finish in half an hour, while I... .oh, damn it!"

"Aren't you exaggerating, Shinichi?" Rei asked, "I mean, Mouri and Suzuki can't be so terrible..."

"Yeah, you're talking like this only because you're not working with them." he retorted, "Especially Sonoko: she's a pain. Always protesting about this and that..."

But Ryu cut him short.

"Shh!" he whispered quickly, "They're looking at you."

Shinichi turned and saw Ran and Sonoko staring at him from their desks.

'What do they want?' he thought.

It seemed that Shiho had read his mind.

"They probably want to know where you'll meet for the research." she stated.

"I bet they'll want to come to my house: Sonoko won't miss the chance but I'm not going to let her do as she wants." he muttered, getting up, "I'll go and talk to them and see what we'll do this afternoon."

He walked towards the two girls, shortly after he said this. As soon as he was out of their earshot, Ryu turned to the girls.

"Is he newly in speaking terms with Mouri and Suzuki?" he asked.

Rei shrugged and looked at Shiho.

"Do you know something?" she asked.

Shiho looked up from the text book she was reading.

"He tried to speak with Mouri but it's kind of hard since Suzuki seems to be glued to her." she said, "Shinichi has never found the right moment to talk with her seriously but, anyway, they are behaving as two childhood friends again."

"But Mouri still doesn't know anything, right?" Rei stated, "About you and Shinichi, I mean."

Shiho shook her head.

"Shinichi wants to tell her but he doesn't find the right moment." she said, "At least that's what he says."

"Well, maybe he doesn't know _how_ to tell it to her." Rei remarked, "Knowing Shinichi, he doesn't want her to suffer more."

Shiho nodded and noticed Shinichi coming towards them. On look at his face and she understood that something had gone wrong. Ryu noticed it, too.

"I think we'll have visitors this evening." he stated.

Shinichi sat down on his chair with a defeated look.

"Sonoko cornered me saying that my house is the best place to work since it's large and I've got all the necessary material." he said grumpily, "All nonsense! She just wants to come at home and see what we do: she doesn't accept the fact that she still doesn't know anything about you three. Well, especially about you, Ryu."

Ryu didn't know whether to smile or be worried...

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That evening Ran and Sonoko arrived at the Kudos' house with different thoughts in their minds. Ran wanted to have a chance to speak to Shinichi: their relationship had bettered in the past weeks. They were newly friends and this had given her a spark of hope.

Sonoko, on the other hand, was determined to know Ryu more: she was furious with herself because she hadn't found out anything about him besides the things she already knew. This was her great chance to find out a few things about him. She didn't care that much of the report.

Unfortunately for her, Ryu, Rei, Shiho and Shinichi had other plans...

They were all in the living room and they saw the two girls outside the house through the window.

"Four o'clock sharp." Rei stated, "Well, they're perfectly in time."

Shinichi sighed.

"So, you'll stay in Rei's room all the time while I'll have to stay with them, right?" he said, as they headed to the door.

"Yes and, by the way, if they go close to the studio, take them away or find a way to distract them." Ryu remarked, "We've got all the computers and the radar in there and it would be a bit hard to explain _why_ they are there."

"Well, I knew that but..." Shinichi stared but he was interrupted by the door bell. He went to open it and let the two girls in. Ran said hello to everyone while Sonoko was already roaming around Ryu. Shinichi stifled a chuckle as he saw how uncomfortable his friend was. But after a bit, feeling pitiful, he went to help him.

"Ran, Sonoko, we'll be working in the living room." he said, "By the way, did you..?"

"Kazama-kun, you probably don't know much of Bunraku theatre since you've been living in USA." Sonoko said to Ryu with what could be defined a flattering tone, completely ignoring Shinichi, "I can help you if you want."

Feeling her gaze more piercing than a knife, Ryu stepped back.

"Don't worry Suzuki." he said, "I already know a few things about it myself and, by the way, Rei and Shiho already know what it is, so.."

Sonoko turned to the two girls and Shinichi and Ryu could swear that they could see daggers flying towards them.

"So you already know Japanese literature?" she asked rather coldly. Ran would have poked her in the ribs for her harsh tone but she didn't do anything because she was curious too. How could two American students know something about ancient Japanese theatre?

"Bunraku theatre is the Japanese traditional puppet theatre in which nearly life-size dolls act out a chanted dramatic narrative, called joruri,to the accompaniment of a small samisen(A.N:three-stringed Japanese liute)." Rei said and noticed the look on the two girls face, "I've read about it."

"The term bunraku derives from the name of a troupe organized by puppet master Uemura Bunrakuken in the early 19th century." Shiho added like it were nothing, "I've read about it, too."

Sonoko was speechless so Ryu decided to take advantage of the moment to leave.

"Well, see you later then." he said, heading towards the staircase.

Sonoko snapped out of her trance.

"Where you're going?" she asked and seeing that Rei and Shiho were going with him, her face hardened. Shinichi decided to act before things could get worse.

"As I said _before_.." he remarked, "We will be working here in the living room, while they will be upstairs. We've been divided in groups, so we thought that we had to work separately."

As soon as he said this, Rei, Ryu and Shiho went upstairs before anybody could say something else.

One look at Sonoko's face and Shinichi knew that he would be very tired that evening.

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Rei, Ryu and Shiho had just got inside Rei's room.

"Oh God, that girl's tiring." Ryu remarked as he closed the door, "I really wouldn't like to be in Shinichi's place."

Rei smiled.

"Come on, you should flattered." she said, "She's behaving like that only because she wants to know you, Mr. Heartthrob."

Ryu stared at her.

"I'll avoid to give an answer." he replied, "Anyway, we'd better do that research."

The two girls nodded: Rei got her laptop while Shiho got her notebook. They, then, looked at Ryu.

"What about you?" Shiho asked, seeing that he didn't have anything.

"Oh, right. I've got a book in my room." he said, opening the door, "I'll be back in a second."

As soon as Ryu left, Shiho turned to Rei that was sitting at her desk.

"Rei?"

"Yes?"

"Do you mind a question?"

"Not at all." she replied, looking at her, "What's up?"

"Doesn't it bother you that Ryu is so... famous among girls?"

"Well, to tell the truth, no. He's always been popular: when we were in New York, the university's whole female population went after him. I'm probably used to it: after all, I attract quite a bit of attention too." Shiho didn't say anything but Rei noticed that she didn't seem satisfied by the answer. "But I suppose, that this wasn't exactly what you wanted to know, right?".

The reddish-blonde looked at her and nodded slightly.

"Well, I don't want to be intrusive..." she said but Rei stopped her.

"Oh, come on!" she exclaimed, "We're friends and I don't have nothing to hide."

The last statement made Shiho smile slightly.

It was true: they had always talked quite freely. She didn't have to feel embarrassed of asking her something but Shiho wasn't still used to it. The only person with whom she had talked with such freedom was Akemi. She glanced at Rei.

"Aren't you worried that Ryu might... well, fall for another girl?" she asked.

"Well, he could and if it happens, I would accept it." Rei's reply made Shiho stare at her. The dark haired notice it. "Don't misunderstand, Shiho. I care for Ryu. God knows how much I care for him. But, if he fell in love another girl who's better than me, smarter, prettier or that simply cares for him more than me, I'd accept it because I wouldn't want him to be unhappy. That's all."

"You would just give up?"

"No, I'd fight till I could but if I realized that it's a lost fight, I'd give up for him."

Shiho didn't say anything and neither did Rei. The room went quiet for a while, until..

"Rei?"

"Yes?"

"Did you realise that it will never happen?"

"What?"

"Where could Ryu find a girl better than you?"

Rei didn't know whether to be pleased or to laugh.

"Shiho, I think you're overestimating me." she remarked, "I already know a person that has all these qualities and that is very close to Ryu."

Shiho stared at her.

"What?" she said.

"Yes, we're similar in many things and different in others. Believe me, if I had to be jealous of someone, it would be her." Rei said and smiled mischievously, "But, fortunately, she's already in love with a boy I know pretty well, so I don't have to worry."

It took Shiho a few seconds to realize who she was talking of.

"Wait a minute.." she said, "You.. you're not talking about me, are you?"

Rei looked at her and nodded.

"Yes, I'm talking about you." she replied with a small smile, "Who else?"

"You're saying that if I didn't like Shinichi, you would have been jealous of me?"Shiho remarked. She still couldn't believe what her friend had said.

"Well, I don't want to sound overconfident but, actually, Shiho, if I had to worry about someone that could attract Ryu's attention, that would be only you." Rei said, looking at her, "Let's say that I don't feel... ehm.. in danger with all the others."

"This is mad." Shiho said, still staring at Rei.

"No, it's just a rational thought." Rei stated, "Why? Did you think I was jealous of.. Suzuki?"

Shiho stifled a smirk, making Rei smile.

"By the way, Shiho, how did this thing come into your mind?"

"I was just thinking."

It was Rei's turn to be unsatisfied by the answer.. She stared at the other girl, wondering and then, she understood.

"Shiho, are you worried that Shinichi could fall for Ran again?" she asked.

She didn't get an answer, so Rei got up from her desk and went to sit on the bed next to Shiho.

"So?" she asked.

"I'm behaving as a fool, right?" Shiho asked, without looking at her.

"Yes." Rei said, "But, you're also in love so I think it's normal."

"Since you're the great expert, why don't you me give an advice?"

"Trust him."

Shiho looked up at her.

"I _do _trust him." she remarked.

"Then, why are you worried?" Rei retorted, "We both know how Shinichi is: he's fanatic about Holmes and soccer; there are time where he can be clueless to an extent you wouldn't believe it but there's a thing that will never change. He's sincere. He's in love with you, Shiho and with no one else."

Rei's words sent a wave of relief through Shiho's being.

'I've been a fool.' she thought, 'I should trust him more and worry less.'

"Are you satisfied, now?" Rei said, noticing that she was smiling slightly.

"Yes. Thanks, Rei."

"Don't mention it."

"By the way, Rei, do you know something?"

"What?"

"If you weren't in love with Ryu, I'd be jealous of your relationship with Shinichi."

Rei smirked.

"And you had the nerve to say that I was mad saying that I could be jealous of you, right?" she remarked, "Anyway, don't worry, I can't even immagine Shinichi and me together. We're just good friends."

"Same for me with Ryu."

"Good to know it."

The two girls looked at each other and laughed. Just then, Ryu came in.

"Hey, what's so funny?" he asked, slightly amused of Shiho and Rei's sudden carefree attitude.

"Nothing." they answered together.

"By the way, Ryu, did you print that book yourself?" Rei asked.

"Very amusing." he remarked, "I didn't remember exactly where I put it so I had to search a bit in my room. That's all." He looked at the girls again. "Why were you laughing?" There was curiosity in his tone.

"Nothing." Shiho replied, "Women's talk."

"Exactly." Rei remarked.

Ryu rolled his eyes.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shinichi was getting desperate: the moment the others had left.. well, the moment Ryu left, Sonoko had become unbearable. Ran was trying to calm her down, noticing how annoyed Shinichi was, but her efforts seemed useless.

'WHY?' Shinichi thought, 'Why with all the people that were there, _I _had to get stuck with Sonoko? Working with Ran is ok but Sonoko is a pain... Oh God, why didn't I get paired with the others?'

He was so busy pitying himself that he didn't notice that Ran was talking to him. He snapped out of his thoughts only when he heard the scraping of a chair: he looked up and saw Ran heading towards the door. He got up with a start.

"Ran!" he said, "What.. where are you going?"

The girl looked at him with surprise.

"Shinichi, I told you I was going to get something to drink in the kitchen." she replied.

"Yes, it seems that we'll have to serve ourselves since you don't know how to treat guests." Sonoko added coldly.

Ignoring her comment, Shinichi walked towards Ran.

"I'll get something to drink, Ran." he said, "Just sit down and wait and I'll come back with... Do you want coffee or soft drinks?"

"A soft drink, please." she replied.

"Me too." Sonoko added from the background.

Shinichi nodded and went to get the drinks in the kitchen. Ran looked at him go away and went back to her seat at the table.

"Sonoko, have you noticed that Shinichi is behaving strangely?" she asked, as she sat down.

"That guy is _always_ behaving strangely." the blonde stated, "He's a detective, Ran, remember? Maybe, you're used being with your father but detectives are always strange. And Shinichi Kudo is the weirdest of all: who else would disappear for months just to go and solve cases abroad.

"Uhm, yes, but..." Ran continued, "I had the feeling that he didn't want me going around the house. You saw how he reacted when I was near the door. I feel as though he... he's hiding something."

Sonoko looked at her friend and shook her head.

"Ran, you're getting paranoid." she remarked. Then, seeing that her friend still had a troubled look, she decided to help her... and herself too.

"Well, Shinichi is in the kitchen, right? Let's go and look around."

Ran stared at her friend.

"What?" she exclaimed, "Sonoko, we can't do that."

"Oh, come on, Ran!" the other retorted, "We'll just look around and if Shinichi asks us something.. ehm.. I'll say that I didn't remember where the bathroom is."

"Sonoko, we know Shinichi since we were five." Ran remarked, as they headed to the door, "He'll never believe us."

"Whatever." the other replied and they left the living room.

They walked towards the studio, just to find it locked.

'Why would he lock the studio?' Ran thought, 'There are only books in there!'

The two girls went upstairs. They didn't know who had which room. They only knew that the first one on the right was Shinichi's. And it was closed. They walked to the room next to his. It was open and they peered inside with curiosity: they saw a neatly made bed, a bedside table with a small lamp on it, a plain desk with drawers furnished with a lamp and with a chair at its side, a bookshelf with the books packed neatly and wardrobe at the end of the room. It was all neat and in order.

Ran,who had always thought that _her_ was room was neat, thought that it was quite a mess compared to this one.

'Whose room is this?' she thought, walking inside. She didn't notice that Sonoko, not finding the room interesting, had gone to "visit" another one.

Ran noticed that there wasn't anything else in the room: no photos or posters on the wall, like in her room. There was only a lab coat, hanging on a hook behind the door and a small collapsible mirror, at the edge of the desk.

'Maybe it's Miyano-san's room.' she thought, 'Shinichi said that she was good in science and that would explain the lab coat.'

Ran walked to the desk and absently touched the mirror's frame, expecting to see another mirror on the other side. But to her surprise, there was a photograph behind.

A photo of Shinichi.

He was leaning on a door frame, dressed in his usual blue suit and with a dark green tie. Hands in his pockets, gaze fixed on the camera and his trademark, slightly arrogant, smile on his face.

Ran looked at the photo and felt as though that last spark of hope that had been inside her heart, since the day Shinichi had told her that he loved another girl, had slowly faded away.

She quickly turned to leave the room but she had hardly reached the door that she found herself face to face with Shiho Miyano.

Shocked, Ran stepped back and then noticed that Kazama and Ikeda were right behind Miyano and that Sonoko was with them.

"Were you looking for something, Mouri-san?" Shiho asked in a cool tone.

"N.. no." Ran replied, "We... I was just..."

"Looking around." Ryu finished, "That's what Suzuki told us."

Ran had never felt so embarrassed: they had all the rights to be annoyed or even angry. Sonoko and she had been poking around, wandering in their rooms.

'And Shinichi still has to come..' Ran thought.

As though he had been called, Shinichi appeared with a rather annoyed look on his face.

"Where on Earth were you?" he asked, approaching them, "If you needed something, I'd have brought it to you. Why are you upstairs?"

He looked at Ran and Sonoko with a questioning stare.

"We had to go to the bathroom." Sonoko replied, annoyed that she had been caught sneaking around, "We can go there, can we? Or would you have brought the bathroom downstairs?"

Ignoring her sarcasm and not wanting to argue, Shinichi glanced at Rei, Ryu and Shiho.

"Any problems?" he asked.

The girls shook their heads.

"No, nothing." Ryu said.

"So, how's the research going?" he asked.

"We finished ten minutes ago." Rei replied, "What about you?"

"We're nearly done." Shinichi said, "Just have to add another couple of things."

Rei and Shinichi weren't truly interested on the research. It was only a diversion: they had started to talk only to allow Ryu and Shiho to check their rooms and see if they had left out something that could have made Ran or Sonoko suspicious about their true identity.

"We'd better go down and finish the work." Shinichi said, turning to his research partners. "Come on., let's go."

The two girls followed Shinichi downstairs and didn't notice that the other two had glided in their rooms. Rei watched the three go downstairs and waited for Ryu and Shiho.

-

Shiho looked around her room.

There wasn't anything "compromising" left around. She had been careful not to leave around anything that could lead back to their work against the Organisation. The studio was their working station and all the material was there.

She was going to leave when she noticed that her mirror/frame had changed side: it was showing the photo now. Realisation slowly hit her.

'Oh, no..' she thought, 'She found out.'

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Sonoko was fuming inwardly.

Shinichi had managed to bring her and Ran downstairs to finish the research but she wasn't going to give up. She had many questions that wanted answers. She glanced at Ran and noticed a sad glint in her eyes: she wondered why for a few seconds. Then, she looked at Shinichi, who was quickly writing down his part of the work and thought of which tactic she could use to get some information from him.

"Shinichi-kun, can I ask you a question?" she said, after a while.

Both Ran and Shinichi looked up in surprise. Sonoko had _never_ called Shinichi like this: it was either Kudo or simply Shinichi. She wanted something and they both knew it.

"What do you want Sonoko?" he asked, looking at her, "And please, don't call me like that. It sends chills down my spine."

Sonoko scowled and Ran would have laughed if her mood had been better.

"Oh, whatever." Sonoko remarked, "Whose room is the one right in front of yours?"

"Ryu's." he replied shortly.

"You mean Kazama-kun?"

"Yes."

"He plays the guitar?"

"Yes."

"What else can he do?"

"Ask him not me."

"Whatever. Whose in the room next to yours?"

"Shiho."

Ran looked up abruptly.

'So, I was right.' she thought, 'It was Miyano-san's room. So that means that she and Shinichi...'

Sonoko raised her eyebrow.

"You call her with her first name?" she asked inquiringly.

"Yes. What's wrong with that?" Shinichi retorted, looking at her.

"Why is her room so empty?" the blonde asked instead, going on with her questions.

Shinichi was getting annoyed.

"It's none of your business." he replied, "It's her room and she can put in what she wants." He put his pen down and looked straight at Sonoko."Why are you so interested in Shiho anyway? I thought you only cared of boys. Not girls."

Sonoko was going to retort when a crash from the kitchen made her jump.

"_WHAT was that?_" she exclaimed, turning to Ran, who had got up, too.

Shinichi rushed to the door.

'One of the others must be in the kitchen.' he thought slightly alarmed.

"Hey, what's going on?" he yelled.

Ryu approached him and Shinichi noticed that the corners of his lips were twitching and relaxed: if Ryu was so calm, nothing serious or dangerous had happened.

"Say, Shinichi, you made dinner yesterday, didn't you?" the blonde asked.

"Yes." he replied, confused, "Why?"

"Rei had hardly opened the kitchen cupboard that all the pots and pans fell out. Do I have to remember you what she and Shiho _always _tell us?"

"Don't mess up in the kitchen and keep everything... " he started to say and then he remembered, "..in order. Oh Lord..."

"I'd start running if I were you." Ryu remarked, smiling.

"Ehm... good idea." Shinichi agreed. He had hardly said this that he found himself face to face with Rei.

"What did you say, Shinichi?" she asked. Her voice was oddly calm and this made the young detective even more nervous. Rei was always calm and hardly got mad: he didn't want to see her angry version.

"Ehm... Rei.." he began to say, "I well..., sorry... but..."

Shinichi's attempt to apologize was quite a comical scene.

Ryu was stifling a laugh. Shiho was highly amused and even Rei was having a hard time to keep her face straight. She wasn't truly mad: she just enjoyed seeing Shinichi in this kind of awkward situations.

Ran and Sonoko, on the other hand, were watching the scene with a rather astonished look. Especially Ran: there was a strange atmosphere among the four teenagers.

She snapped out of thoughts when she heard someone laughing.

Rei and Ryu had burst out in a fit of laughters, Shiho (to Ran's great surprise) was actually stifling a laugh. Shinichi had a frown on his face and was muttering incoherent words under his breath.

"Very funny, Rei." he said at the end, "I thought you were going to bite my head off, instead you were only teasing me."

"You should have seen your face." Rei said, still shaking with mirth.

Shinichi ignored her.

"What's going on?" Sonoko demanded.

Rei, Ryu, Shiho and Shinichi turned around quickly: they had nearly forgotten that the two girls were there.

"Sorry, we didn't want to disturb your work." Rei said, "I just wanted to give Shinichi a small lesson."

"How come Ryu never gets such a treatment?" the detective asked her.

"He's neater than you and he listens to what Shiho and I say."

The boy grimaced.

Noticing the confused looks on Ran and Sonoko's face, Ryu decided to give them an explanation.

"You see, we have turns to do the houseworks." he said, "There are no problems for the cleaning and washing but Shinichi and I are not that good in cooking. The girls are always complaining that the kitchen seems like a battle field after one of us has been in there."

"Ryu has learned to put the things in order at least but Shinichi still hasn't." Rei added.

"He's a useless case." Shiho stated.

"Well, thank you very much." Shinichi remarked sarcastically.

The other three smiled slightly.

'They are more than just friends: I'm sure of that.' Ran thought, looking at the four 'They are more like... a family.'

Sonoko glanced at her friend and noticed the sadness in her eyes.

You could say anything about Sonoko Suzuki: bossy, talkative and with quite a temper but she had a quality. She was loyal to her friends and cared for them. And now, seeing Ran so sad made her only feel angry. She knew her since they were five and she had always been by her side. When her parents had separated, when Shinichi had disappeared, when Conan had left and when Shinichi had had the nerve to tell her that he liked another girl.

Ran was her best friend and she didn't want to see her suffer.

"By the way, Shinichi, we're going next door." Rei said, "Agase called and said that we had to help him with something."

The boy looked at her curiously.

"What does he want?" he asked.

She shrugged and shook her head.

"I haven't got the slightest idea." she remarked, "He asked us to come and help him. You haven't finished, have you?"

"No, we still have to do a few things."

"Well, I don't think it will take us much." Ryu said, "We three will go and do everything. See you later."

"Ok, see you later."

Ryu and the two girls headed to the door. As soon as they left, Shinichi turned to his two research partners.

"Come on, it's nearly six o'clock." he said to them, glancing at his watch, "We'd better hurry."

"Why?" Sonoko asked suspiciously, "Do you have any plans for tonight?"

"Even if I do have something to do tonight, why do you care?" Shinichi retorted, You know Sonoko, you're stranger than ever today. "

Sonoko had a witty retort but Ran stopped her. The girl knew that if the two had gone on, things could have got worse.

"Come on, there's no need to start a fight." she said, "Honestly, you two haven't changed a bit in these years. You still bicker like two kids."

"It's his fault."

"It's her fault."

Ran actually smiled when she heard their simultaneous answer.

"Let's finish that research." she said and thought 'Some things never change.'

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It was nearly seven o'clock when Shinichi, Ran and Sonoko finished their work. The research was perfect: neatly written and with explicative images. They would have got a good mark.

"You know, Shinichi, your idea of including some pictures is great." Ran said, "The teacher won't expect it."

"How did you get this idea anyway, Kudo?" Sonoko asked (She had got back to her normal self and was calling Shinichi as usual).

"Ehm... It was just a random thing that came to my mind." Shinichi lied. Actually, he had talked with Rei that afternoon and _she _had given him the idea. It was quite fun to see the admired look on Ran's face and the astonished one on Sonoko's. A small proud smirk crossed his face.

"Well, the research is done." he noted, "It took more time than I thought:. You two better be going: it's late."

The two girls nodded. Sonoko went to the bathroom to refresh herself, leaving Ran and Shinichi alone in the living room. They were putting their things away in silence: both wanted to speak but they didn't how to start.

"Shinichi.."

"Ran.."

They stopped, realising that they had started to speak at the same time.

"Go ahead." Shinichi said, smiling, "Ladies first."

Ran smiled slightly.

"Well, I.. I wanted to ask you something." she said unsure, "Can I?"

"Sure." the boy replied, "What's up?"

"Remember the talk we had more or less a month ago?"

Shinichi nodded: it seemed that both wanted to talk about the same thing. It was rather predictable: he had already postponed this talk too much.

'Ran has to know the truth.' he thought.

"The girl you mentioned. well.. did you tell her...?"

"Yes, I confessed her my feelings." he said, cutting through her sentence.

Ran looked up. She was dreading to ask the next question.

"What did she say?" she asked softly.

"She returns my affection.", he replied, "It seems that she has been liking me for a long time."

Ran felt a lump in her throat as the last spark of hope evaporated from her heart. Tears were willing to fall down her cheeks but she forced them back. There was one last thing she had to ask him.

"Shinichi?" she said, after a few moments of silence.

The young detective nodded without looking at her: he couldn't bear to see the pain in his childhood friend's eyes.

"The girl is.. Miyano-san, right?"

"Yes. I'm in love with Shiho."

His sentence pierced Ran's heart like a knife. This was the confirm of all her suspicions.

An uncomfortable silence fell in the room.

"Ran?"

The girl looked up.

"I know this is a really stupid question but are you all right?" Shinichi asked, looking rather unsure which was quite an unusual thing for him.

The girl smiled weakly. He cared for her: not the way she would have wanted but he cared.

"Well, I'd lie if I said yes." she replied.

"Right. Listen, remember what I told you last time? I still consider you my friend: the same with whom I used to play when I was small and that I care so much and I hope that, no matter my feelings towards Shiho, you will still consider me your friend."

Ran didn't reply immediately. She looked at him straight in the eyes and saw that he was sincere. She had to be just as sincere too.

"I don't know, Shinichi." she replied, "You have to give me time because... my feelings haven't changed."

The boy swallowed. This was getting harder and harder...

"I know you told me that you would have waited but, Ran, it's not fair for you." he said, "You deserve better."

Ran looked at him in surprise.

"I never told you that." she stated.

Shinichi froze for a second. It was true: she hadn't said this to him but to Conan. He should have been more careful.

"Well, you know..." he remarked, trying to find a plausible answer, "I talked with Conan and he told me everything. You know, he's a small child and was worried about you, so.."

"You heard Conan-kun?" Ran asked, "How is he?"

Her attitude had changed completely. Shinichi could see how much she cared for the little boy just through the happiness in her eyes.

"He's fine: kind of busy with his new school and friends." he lied, "That's why he hasn't called you. I heard him shortly after I returned. He also asked me how you were doing."

Shinichi hated lying but for once, he thought that lies could be useful. In this case, they gave Ran a shred of happiness.

That very moment Sonoko came back. She looked at Shinichi with a strange face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

"Don't you celebrate Christmas?" she asked.

"What?" he asked in confusion.

The two girls looked at each other and then at the boy.

"Shinichi, it's Christmas Eve this Saturday." Ran remarked, "Don't tell me you didn't know it."

"Ehm... no. I think it passed out of my mind."

Sonoko looked at him in disbelief.

"What on Earth do you have in your mind?" she asked, "Forgetting Christmas!"

Shinichi had to admit that she was right to be surprised.

He clearly remembered that he had looked at the calendar this morning and didn't even realize that the festivity was near. It was probably due to the plan and the work. Matt had been sending e-mails nearly every day, asking for help in decoding files or for information. He had said that FBI was close to do the final attack against the Organisation's American headquarter.

It was just a question of time. Shinichi, Ryu, Rei and Shiho were waiting anxiously for this to happen. If the American headquarter fell down, they would be in first line to bring the Japanese one down along with Matt, his father and his FBI squad and Kaito, who gave them constant news about the events at Tokyo's principal police station. The moment they would have some solid evidences, Shinichi would have called Hattori, who would have informed his father, and Megure. At that point, FBI, Osaka and Tokyo's police forces would have worked together to bring the Organisation down definitely. But, for the moment, they had to wait and be in constant vigilance.

"Shinichi'?"

"W.. What? Yes?" Shinichi snapped out of his thoughts and turned to Ran, "Yes, Ran?"

"What will you be doing for Christmas?" she asked.

"Well, I haven't got the slightest idea. I sincerely forgot that it was so close. I don't know: I'll probably stay at home." he replied, "What about you two?"

Ran said that she would spend the day with her father, except a few hours when she'll see her mother. Shinichi was happy for her: he knew how much she wanted to be close to both her parents. Sonoko, on the other hand, began rambling about her vacation with her family in one of their mountain houses. There were times when Shinichi forgot who Sonoko was and how rich her family is. Mind you, he was rich too but she was above standards.

The three turned around when they heard the front door open and Ryu, Rei and Shiho come in. Shinichi noticed that there was a slightly amused look on their faces.

"Hey, welcome back." he said, approaching them, "What did Professor want?"

"Shinichi, do know that it's Christmas Eve the day after tomorrow?" Rei asked, not replying to him.

"No, Ran and Sonoko just told me." he said, "Why?"

"Agase called us to help him with Christmas decorations." Ryu replied, "You should have seen his face when we admitted that we had forgotten about it."

"He gave us a lecture about the importance of religious traditions." Shiho added, taking off her jacket.

At this, Shinichi raised an eyebrow.

"Importance of religious traditions?" he stated, "But Agase is Buddhist!"

"That's exactly what I said to him." she remarked.

"And what did he reply?"

"He stuttered for a few seconds, blushed and then admitted that he liked Christmas for the decorations, the tree and so on and also for the presents." Ryu said, "He actually dropped hints that he would like a new set of working instruments for his inventions."

Shinichi laughed out at this as a smile appeared on Ryu's face.

Rei turned and saw Ran and Sonoko near the living room's door.

"Mouri-san, Suzuki-san, have you done with the research?" she asked, approaching them.

"Yes, more or less fifteen minutes ago." Ran replied, "Shinichi came up with a good idea, so it took us more time."

"Oh, really? _Shinichi _came up with a good idea, huh?" she said, turning to the latter, who smiled sheepishly.

She then noticed that Sonoko was staring at her.

"Ehm, Suzuki-san? Is there something wrong?" she asked tentatively. Rei was always cautious when she talked to her: since Shinichi had told her that Sonoko was still mad with her for something that had nearly four years ago, she was always very careful.

"No, I was just wondering how all of you have forgotten that Christmas is so near?" she said rather hastily, "All the shops are decorated, there are TV-commercials that show toys and gifts every second. Do you go around blindfolded or what?"

"Well, you've got a point but we just didn't notice it." Rei answered, "As for television, no one looks at it." She saw the astonished look on the girls' faces, "We've been pretty busy. That's all."

"Oh, all right." Ran said. Then she turned to Sonoko, "We'd better be going. It's half past seven. I have to get dinner ready or I'll have to hear Dad."

But Sonoko didn't move. She looked at Ryu instead.

"Kazama-kun, what are doing for Christmas?" she asked, in a flattering voice that sent chills down Shinichi's spine.

"Ehm, nothing." he replied, shifting uncomfortably away from her gaze, "I'll probably stay here with the others."

The fact that Rei would be spending Christmas day with Ryu annoyed Sonoko greatly.

"Why? Can't you spend the holidays with your parents?" she asked, "Isn't it better to be with your family?"

That simple question had the effect of a lightning in broad day.

Ryu, Rei and Shiho froze on the spot. Shinichi hastily decided to end the conversation.

"Hey girls, it's late and it's already dark." he stated.

Ran nodded and dragged Sonoko to the door.

"See you tomorrow at school." she said, turning around before leaving, "Bye!"

"Bye." Shinichi said. Ryu and the girls nodded towards her. Ran didn't have Shinichi's skills in identifying a person's change of mood but as she said goodbye, she noticed the glint of pain in Kazama, Ikeda and Miyano's eyes. An unbearable pain.

As soon as Ran and Sonoko left, Shinichi turned to his friends. The three were all deep in their thoughts. There was an uncomfortable silence in the whole room.

Shinichi wanted to say something but he couldn't find the words.

'What can I say?' he thought, 'I understand how you're feeling? Don't worry things will get better? No, I would be only lying. Damn it, trust Sonoko in ruining the day...'

For a good five minutes, nobody moved or made a sound in the house. They just stood there at the entrance in silence.

The first one to move was Ryu. He looked at the others.

"Do you mind if I go in my room?" he asked, "I don't feel like eating."

Shinichi nodded slowly.

"Are you all right?" he asked ,approaching him. He mentally slapped himself.

'Does he look all right?' he thought, 'God, what a fool I am!'

Ryu, however, smiled weakly.

"Well, it's strange but after five years I thought that I'd be able to deal with my emotions better." he remarked softly.

Not knowing how to reply, Shinichi nodded in agreement.

"You can't deal with emotions." Rei said softly, getting near the two boys.

"Especially with the painful ones." Shiho added.

Ryu looked at the two girls: they could understand how he felt. What it means to loose someone dear to you. All because of the Organisation.

"All because of the Organisation.." he whispered. The others heard him nevertheless.

"You're right." Rei said.

"If it wasn't for the Organisation, everything would have been different." Shiho remarked.

"Yes." Ryu said, going upstairs, "We'd still have a family and a place called home."

Rei and Shiho nodded and went upstairs too after having excused themselves with Shinichi.

The boy heard the sound of their bedroom doors' getting locked. This was a rather unusual thing and it showed that none of the three wanted to be disturbed.

However, if Ryu, Rei and Shiho hadn't been so upset, they would have noticed the hurt look on Shinichi's face when he heard Ryu's last sentence.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That night was a sleepless night for all.

**Ryu**

Ryu was lying on his bed looking blankly at the ceiling.

Old memories came back to his mind and hurt him more than knife stabs. All the happy moments with his family. All the pain as he witnessed their death. He was reviving everything in his mind.

His mother. He remembered everything of her: every single detail.

The day he asked her to teach him to play a musical instrument he was nearly eight or nine years old. He still remembered her proud, happy smile when he learned to play both the violin and the guitar.

"Mon petit garçon has a great talent." (A:N: Mon petit garçon My little boy.)

His mother often spoke French at home. It drove his father mad sometimes because she could mix English, French and Japanese all together in the same sentence. He hardly understood what she wanted to say and always blushed when she laughed at him. Ryu would laugh with her: she had taught him French too and he understood what she said.

His father. One of the youngest yet most talented electronic engineer's in Japan. Ryu had always admired him: he wanted to be like him. He was an honest and good man, admired for his work and skills. Yet he was modest and never put himself above the others.

"Never think to be better than someone else." he used to say, "You can always learn from others."

He cared for his family more than anything else. Ryu remembered that even if he was busy or had to give out a project, he would find time to talk or play with him and his sister and spend some time with his mother. He always found time for them.

His sister. Ryu felt tears flow down his cheeks as he thought of her. His beloved little sister Françoise. He cared for her more than for anyone else. Since the day his mother had come back from the hospital holding her gently in her arms.

Actually, five year old Ryu only saw a bundle of blankets: his father had to lift him up to see the baby girl. He had been absolutely delighted to see his new sister and seeing her so small and delicate in his mother's arms, he came to the conclusion that he would have always protected her. Always. His mother often said that she didn't have to spoil her because he was there for that. He gave her anything: from toys to games. Ryu just wanted her to be happy. His parents sometimes complained for his over protectiveness but he saw that they were pleased of the close bond the siblings had.

And then, everything finished...

Ryu closed his eyes as the pain became stronger. When he opened them, the ceiling was blurry through his tear-tinted eyes.

The Organisation had taken them away from him in one night.

All together, leaving him alone with his pain.

**Rei**

Rei was leaning on the wall, looking out of the window. However, noticing her empty stare, you could understand that she was thinking. Ryu's words were circling in her mind.

_"If it wasn't for the Organisation, we'd still have a family and a place called home."_

'How right he is.' she thought bitterly.

Family. She had lost both her parents in a car crash. An accident: that's what everyone still thinks. Only she and her friends knew the truth.

It was a murder: a clever murder that was covered up to seem an accident. She still remembered the night when Shiro Ayase, her father's colleague and good friend, came to her house to tell her about the accident. His normally steady and calm voice was shaken by sobs as he told her that her parents had died. Rei's mind had gone blank in shock and when the reality sank in, she broke down and Shiro-san comforted her as he could. She had been in grief till the funeral service but when everything had finished, she realised that she didn't believe what had happened. It was impossible.

_Her father_ had lost control of the car and crashed? Her father that had given her advices and had always admonished her to be careful and that would have never endangered the lives of his wife and daughter, _he _would had lost control of the car?

Her parents had always warned her that something could have happened to them because of their jobs. Being a diplomat and lawyer, they knew that not everyone would have been satisfied by their work. She remembered that once her mother's car's tires had been slashed by the clients of the lawyer she had faced during a practice. She had asked her why she had chosen that job and her mother had said something that she would always remember.

_"I wanted to defend people with words and give everyone a chance. The world is not only divided in _

_Good and Evil: you can't judge people only looking at their appearances or their actions. There are good people as much as the evil ones but often they are mixed up. Too often, innocent people get condemned while the guilty ones are set free. I just want to help the innocent."_

Her father had given her a similar answer but had made a touching addition.

_"I will help all the ones that deserve help. I don't want my only daughter to live in a world full of corrupted people. Am I not right?" _

Her mother would nod with a smile and he would ruffle Rei's hair and laugh as she complained.

Rei smiled sadly: she would have given anything to have her father ruffle her hair and tease her again. She walked away from the window and opened her wardrobe. She drew out a violin case , put it on her bed and opened it. Inside was a violin covered by a dark blue velvet cloth. Rei took it out with shaking hands and laid it on the bed.

The violin was her father's last gift: she had received it for her twelfth birthday after that her older violin had accidentally broken. Hardly two weeks later, they died in the car crash.

Nobody knew that Rei hadn't played it since then. She didn't tell to Shinichi or Shiho.

Not even to Ryu.

She used to play the violin for her parents: it was usually her father that made the requests. He loved music but he was practically tone deaf. He was very proud that she had a talent in music.

"Too bad you didn't inherit this quality from me." he often said and her mother would laugh.

She stopped playing the violin since the day of their death. Not that she hadn't tried: every time she took out the instrument and tried to play, her hands would shake and tears would fill her eyes. Her parents' memories tormented her whenever she touched their last gift.

She had promised herself not to play it anymore: it was a link with her family and now that they were gone, she didn't... or couldn't play it.

Tears slowly streaked her face as she put the violin back in the case.

'Ryu is right.' she thought, 'If the Organisation hadn't existed, I would still have my parents and I would still have my house. I wouldn't have been forced to move to Europe and live there hiding myself for two years, before coming back to Japan.'

She covered her face with her hands and sobbed softly as bitter tears testified her pain.

**Shiho**

Shiho was sitting at her desk, absently flipping through the pages of a magazine. She was lost in thoughts.

_"Why? Can't you spend the holidays with your parents? Isn't it better to be with your family?"_

'Why did Suzuki's simple question upset me so much?' she thought in slight confusion.

She never really had a family.

She hardly remembered her parents. The only thing she knew about them was that they worked for the Organisation. Well, her father was a member: she never knew which was her mother's role in the Organisation. He was the main responsible of her situation. It was his fault if she and Akemi had been forced to be with the Organisation.

'It's useless to think about this...' she thought, 'Accusing my father won't change what has happened.'

She abruptly shut the magazine and leaned on her chair, closing her eyes slowly.

In the past years, the Organisation had imposed her to live as one of them: happiness, emotions and family were concepts that didn't exist for them. It was only pure loyalty, hard work and nothing else. She shuddered at the thought that, if she hadn't had her sister, she would have probably turned into an emotionless machine whose only task was to satisfy the Organisation's requests.

Akemi. She had been her only family: the only one that she had trusted and with whom she had spent happy moments. She was only a few years elder than her but, besides being a caring sister, Akemi had also behaved as a mother for her.

Shiho remembered an episode of her childhood.

During one of the rare occasions Gin allowed her to see her sister, fourteen year old Akemi had shown up with a small cake and a camera that she had carried in her backpack.

"I'm sorry I couldn't come for your birthday, sis." she apologized but then smiled mischievously,"I made this for you: it's the first time I've ever baked a cake. I hope you'll like it."

She gave the cake to a ten year old Shiho that accepted the gift with a smile.

"It will be delicious, One-chan." she reassured her.

Shiho smiled slightly as she remembered the rest. They ate the cake together and then, Akemi took a photo of them together. She saw the photo in her mind: they were sitting on a couch and Akemi was hugging her little sister. They were both smiling because, for one moment, they were happy.

She had kept that photo for years: even, when she was in America and in the lab she used to work.

With a pang, she realised that the photo had gone lost. The photo was in the lab and it had been burnt down after her betrayal. She didn't have anything that belonged to her sister. Only memories.

Shiho got up, opening her eyes and realised that she was crying silently.

A bitter smirk appeared on her face.

'Gin would tell me that I'm exposing my emotions too much.' she thought, 'Feelings are an obstacle, Sherry. Yes, that's what he used to say.'

She walked to her bed and sat down. Tears were still falling from her eyes but she didn't bother to dry them. She laid down and covered her face with her arm, blocking a ray of moonlight that filtered through the window. As the memory of sister came back to her mind once again, Shiho felt a lump in her throat and her tears continued to fall down, making her sight blurry and showing how deep her pain was.

**Shinichi**

Shinichi was sitting on a the couch in the living room.

He glanced at his watch and saw that it was only nine o'clock. He had been there in silence for nearly two hours, since Ryu, Rei and Shiho had locked themselves in their rooms. His first impulse had been to talk to them but he quickly understood that it would be useless. If they had locked their bedroom door's, they wouldn't have opened even if he had knocked or pleaded them. They were hurt: Sonoko's simple question had opened wounds that hadn't healed yet. He didn't know what it means to loose your family, so he couldn't say that he understood how they felt.

He would just be a hypocrite.

Thinking it over, maybe he _was _a hypocrite. He had his parents; he had a house.. actually, he had two; he had lived a normal life... till a year ago. He had had a normal childhood. How could he have thought that he understood their feelings? Their suffering was beyond his comprehension.

He shook his head as Ryu's last statement came back to his mind.

_"If it wasn't for the Organisation, we'd still have a family and a place called home."_

That sentence had hurt him. A lot. Even though, it was the truth.

He hadn't realised it completely before but Ryu, Rei and, obviously Shiho had become an important part of his life. He had found a sister, a great friend and his love in them and, even though he despised to admit it, the Organisation had contributed to allow this. He sunk on the couch, thinking. The Organisation had to be destroyed and he knew it but that wasn't the problem now.

Ryu's words. That was something he had to think about.

Shinichi glanced at the calendar. 22 of December: three days before Christmas.

'Christmas..' he thought, 'A festivity to spend with your family..'

He had spent his past four Christmases with Agase. His parents called him from America to bid him their wishes and the gifts for him usually came the same day. He had felt slightly sad the first year he spent the festivity alone but he slowly got used to it. At least, he knew his parents were there for him. It was different for Shiho, Ryu and Rei.

He knew that he couldn't do anything for that. They had lost their families and he couldn't bring them back but maybe... he could make them understand that... _they _could be one.

He already considered them part of his family. How could he make them understand this?

And going on to the absence of a house, they could consider _his _house as their own. But the point was: how could he make them understand this? And, most of all, what could _he _do to make them feel better?

He scratched the back of his head and thought about a possible solution to his problems.

Ten minutes later, he still hadn't a clue of what he wanted to do to help his friends. He got up and walked to the window: it was a clear night without moon but with plenty of stars. He walked back to the couch and absently glanced at the calendar again.

As he sat down, he began to think rather randomly.

'Shiho... 22... Christmas... gifts... Rei... family... home... Ryu... ... stars...' he thought.

Then..

He got up with a start. He had an idea.

He got up and paced across the room.

'Today's the 22.' he thought, 'That means that I've got more or less.. let's see... two days before Christmas Eve. Two days.. It's not much but it's better than nothing. Then... how can I do this? I've got to be quick but they won't let me go. Yeah, I've got to go now... immediately. but... if I go like this..? I'll tell him! And he'll tell them: they won't worry. But I've got to hurry.'

Shinichi quietly walked to the entrance: he put on his jacket and checked his pockets. He found his wallet, the earring phone and his motorbike's and house keys.

He smiled slightly: he had everything he needed. He found a piece of paper and quickly scribbled down a note. He picked up his helmet and walked to the front door, after having switched off the lights of the living room. He opened the door as quietly as he could. Before stepping outside he turned around and looked upstairs. He smiled tenderly and left, quietly closing the door behind him.

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Ryu was the first to get up the next morning: he had a quick shower and got dressed to go to school. He was making breakfast when Rei showed up, fully dressed too. One look at her face and he knew that she hadn't slept much.

"Good morning." she said with a small smile.

"Good morning." he replied softly, "Sleepless night?"

"Yes. Same as you, I see."

"Yes."

"Have you seen Shinichi?"

"No, he must be in his room."

"Probably." she replied and turned around, "Good morning, Shiho."

"Good morning, Shiho." Ryu said.

"Good morning." the blonde said to both. They noticed that she looked tired too.

"Where's Shinichi?" she asked.

"In his room." Ryu said, "At least, I think so.."

"It's a bit strange though. He usually gets up before us."

"Maybe, he went to sleep late." Rei said, "I didn't hear him get inside his room and I went to sleep at one o'clock."

Shiho didn't show it but she felt worried. Rei, however, seemed to notice it.

"Come on, let's go and see what he's doing." she said to the other girl. Shiho nodded and they left the kitchen.

Ryu, in the meanwhile, had gone to take the newspapers: he opened the front door, picked the papers and quickly closed it, shivering for the cold.

Only when he turned around, he noticed that a helmet was missing.

Arching an eyebrow, he put the papers on the kitchen table and noticed the girls going upstairs. His gaze casually fell on the coat hanger: _Shinichi's jacket was missing._

He looked around, as a sense of foreboding grew inside him, and noticed a piece of paper. He read it in less than a second.

"REI!" he called, "SHIHO!"

The two girls had hardly reached Shinichi's room when they heard Ryu's shout.

They both froze and looked at each other: there was a strange note in his voice.. and they didn't like it. They rushed down.

"Ryu, what's wrong?" Rei asked, looking at him: he was pale.

Ryu didn't answer. He just handed her the note.

The girl looked at him with confusion and read it. Shiho looked at the paper too.

_Dear Shiho, Ryu and Rei, _

_I've got an important business to carry on. Don't worry I'll show up soon and I'll be careful._

_Shinichi_

The girls eyes widened and looked at Ryu.

"He has already left." he said softly, "And he has taken his motorbike."

-

"Nothing! I've gone around the whole block but he isn't anywhere."

Ryu put down his helmet and his keys and sat down on a kitchen chair. He looked up and stared at Rei and Shiho's pale faces.

"He has probably left either last night or this morning very early." he stated, breaking the silence, "But..."

"Why?" Rei asked, "Why..?

"Why did he leave?" Shiho asked as well.

The other two weren't able to give her an answer. The all stayed in the kitchen in silence when they heard someone opening the front door. They looked at each other and, in some trepidation, they walked to the door, hoping it would be Shinichi and not someone they wouldn't have liked to meet.

Unfortunately, or fortunately (depends on the point of view), when the door opened, it revealed only the well known face of Hiroshi Agase. They had forgotten that Shinichi had given the scientist a pair of spare keys of the house.

"Good morning." he said, as he came in.

"Ehm.. Good morning, Professor." Ryu said.

"Is there something wrong?" Agase asked nonchalantly.

"Professor, Shinichi is missing." Rei said, "He only left a note and got away with his motorbike."

"Oh, don't worry. He'll be all right."

This was probably the last answer they would have expected. Ryu, Rei and Shiho stared at the old man.

"What?" Rei exclaimed, "Shinichi has disappeared without saying a word and you say not to worry?"

Agase looked at her and the others: he could see concern in their eyes. He would have liked to say the truth but he had made a promise..

"Don't worry. He'll be back soon." he said, in an attempt to comfort them. He immediately regretted it, noticing the look on the three youngsters' face.

"_You _know where he is." Shiho remarked, staring at him.

"What? No.. No!" he stuttered, "Really, you must have misunderstood my words."  
But Ryu, Rei and Shiho were not so easy to fool.

"Agase, please tell us where he is." Rei said.

"Yes, he's in danger as much as us." Ryu added, "He can't go around like that."

Agase knew that he was cornered but he couldn't break down. He looked around and noticed the time.

"Listen, it's a quarter to eight." he said, "Shouldn't you be going to school?"

Rei looked at him in disbelief.

"School?" she repeated, "Professor, we've got more important things than high school in our minds now at the moment."

"Yes, tell us where Shinichi is." Ryu said.

"We're not going to let you go till you tell us." Shiho added.

Agase mentally marvelled over Shinichi's ability of foreseeing his friends' reactions. He had told him exactly what to do and say in this situation.

"But.. wouldn't it be suspicious if the four of you were absent?" he asked, "Someone could think that something is wrong and come here to check."

The three looked at each other, slightly taken aback. He was right: if only one was absent, the others could have covered him but if all were absent, it would have been suspicious. They were torn between their concern for Shinichi and their responsibility.

It was Ryu that voiced their decision.

"You're right, Agase. We have to go." he said, looking at the girls who nodded in agreement, "We can't risk to loose our cover."

The old scientist nearly sighed in relief.

'Shinichi-kun, this is the last time, I'll do this for you.' he thought, as he watched the retreating backs of Ryu, Rei and Shiho. They came back down in a few minutes, carrying their bags. Just then, Ryu realized a thing.

"Ehm.. we've got a problem." he stated.

The girls turned to him with a quizzical look.

"We are three but there is only one motorbike." he explained.

Agase pitched in before one of them could have thought to stay back.

"I can take you to school with my car." he said, "I have to do a few... oh, it doesn't matter. Let's go, shall we?"

The three nodded but they had noticed that Agase was hiding something.

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It was five to eight when they walked through Teitan High School's front gates.

All the students were coming in that moment and Ryu , Rei and Shiho could hear a hushed murmuring around them. Everyone was probably wondering what was going on: Shinichi wasn't there, they hadn't come with their motorbikes but had been dropped in front of the gates by Agase. The mystery around them had always interested everyone in the three weeks they had been there and now this change was probably making the students burn with curiosity.

The three ignored the constant whispering that seemed to spread around them and quickly went to their seats. Rei and Shiho sat together while Ryu sat behind them alone. They didn't talk or move while their classmates came in but merely nodded their heads when they greeted them.

Ran and Sonoko walked in just before the bell rang. They headed to their seats quickly; Ran, however, had noticed that Shinichi was missing.

'Where is he?' she thought but she didn't have time to think anything else because the Maths teacher came in.

Half an hour later, the whole class was silent and the only person speaking was Mr. Takashi, the strict Math teacher. He had just explained linear spaces and systems of linear equations and was writing an example on the blackboard to clear out the students' ideas. He could hear some of them muttering about the use of knowing this concepts for their lives.

He turned around and noticed that the three transfer students weren't paying attention. He saw with annoyance that they weren't even bothering to take notes: they were either flipping absently through the pages of the text book or looking out of the window.

"Ikeda. Kazama. Miyano." he said loudly. The three stood up as they heard their names, "Is the lesson too boring for you?"

Rei fought the desire of nodding and didn't reply. Neither did the others. Takashi thought they were silent because they were too embarrassed to speak. He thought they deserved a lesson and went on.

"Miyano, give me the solutions for the system I've written on the board." he said with authority.

Shiho casually glanced at the board and answered with a cool voice. Mr Takashi's eyes widened slightly.

"G... good." he said to her, "Kazama, if I add the parameter k to the second equation, what kind of solutions would I have?"

Ryu answered easily. Takashi was speechless.

"Ehm... right." he said, after a few seconds of silence, "Ikeda, give me all the possible solutions of this system with the parameter k in the first and third equation."

This was a hard question: at least it was a hard question for a average high school student. However, Rei didn't even blink: she answered with a clear and cool voice. Takashi's mouth dropped open as half of the students in the class. They knew that the three new ones were smart, just like Kudo, but how could they know something that the teacher hadn't still fully explained. Takashi seemed to think the same thing.

"Sir?" Rei said, making the teacher come back to reality.

"Ehm.. Yes?"

"Can we sit down?"

"Wha.. ? Yes, yes." he said. Then, trying to regain his composure, he added: "Even though you have answered correctly, you have to pay attention in class."

After this, he turned around and went on writing on the board.

Despite their thoughts, the three smirked as they sat down again.

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It was lunch break and Ryu, Rei and Shiho had gone up to the school's rooftop: it was desert, to their great relief. They hadn't talked to each other and they were willing to do it now. They hadn't prepared their lunch so they bought a few sandwiches at the school's cafeteria. They had just finished to eat when they heard someone opening the roof top's iron door.

Ran appeared in front of them.

"Hello." she said, rather timidly.

Rei smiled slightly and greeted her.

"Hello, Mouri-san." she said, "Do you want to speak with us?"

"Well, yes. But I don't want to disturb you.."

"No, not problem at all, Mouri-san." Ryu said, "What do you want to know?"

Ran looked at the three in front of her. She wasn't a great observer but she noticed that they looked tired and worried.

"Ehm, why isn't Shinichi here?" she asked.

"He had.. a business to carry on. He will be back in a few days." Rei answered, hoping that her tone was not uncertain.

"So, he will come back soon?" Ran asked.

Ryu and Rei looked at each other: how could they answer? They hardly knew anything themselves.

Suddenly a phone ring tone broke the silence. Ran, Ryu and Rei turned around and saw Shiho taking out an earring phone out of her jacket. Ran recognized the phone.

'Conan-kun had one like that..' she thought.

Shiho attached the phone to her ear and answered.

"Hello? Who...?"

She suddenly stopped, recognizing the voice and a surprised expression appeared on her face.

_"Hi, Shiho. How you're doing?"  
_"Where are you?" she demanded. Ryu and Rei were by her side in a flash: they had understood right away with whom who she was speaking.

_"Hey, calm down. I'm fine and I'm very careful: don't worry, all right?"_

"When will you be back?"

_"Ehm... tomorrow.. I think. At the very least..."_

"What?"

_"I said don't worry. Listen, I've got to go now. Say hi to Ryu and Rei, ok? Bye, Shiho."_

"No, wait... Shinichi!"

Shiho frowned and pulled the phone out of ear.

"He put down." she said to Ryu and Rei.

"Where is he?" Rei asked.

"I don't know. He just said that he's fine and that he will be back tomorrow at the very least."

"Tomorrow?" Ryu asked, "What the hell is he doing?"

Shiho shrugged.

"Was it Shinichi?" Ran asked.

Ryu, Shiho and Rei looked up in surprise: they had completely forgotten that she was there.

"Ehm... yes." Rei said uneasily.

Ran looked at them and realized that they were hiding something.

"Listen, we don't know each other well but.. well, please don't lie to me." she said, "I think that there's something that you aren't telling me about Shinichi." The three looked at each other. Seeing that she had hit the right spot, Ran went on. "Shinichi is one of my oldest childhood friends, so please tell me if there's something wrong with him. I care for him very much" She shot a small glance to Shiho and bit her lip, "As a friend."

Shiho seemed to understand what Ran meant.

'Is it possible that he has talked to her?' she thought, looking intently at the girl. She could see, through the glint in her eyes, that Ran was concerned. Shiho didn't feel like lying to her.

"All right, Mouri-san. We'll tell you everything." she said, after a while. Rei and Ryu turned to stare at her but the firm look on her face made them nod in agreement. Shiho smiled at them slightly and then turned to Ran.

"You see, Mouri-san, Shinichi has left suddenly, without saying a word to us." she said quickly.

Ran's eyes widened.

"When?" she asked.

"It's just a guess but I think he has left last night, pushing his motorbike for a while before turning the engine on." Ryu said. He noticed the questioning looks on the girls' faces and shrugged, "I saw the tracks outside the house. That's all."

"Do you know why he left?" Ran asked.

"No. He just left a note, saying he had some business." Rei answered.

"But he will come back?" Ran asked, "He hasn't left like last time, has he?"

Ran's concern was comprehensible: she feared that he would disappear as he did after their date at the Tropical Land . On the contrary, Shiho, Ryu and Rei, who knew why he had 'disappeared' last time, were concerned for his security.

"He has just called and said, rather vaguely, that he'll be back tomorrow." Shiho said, "We'll find out what he had to do of so important only tomorrow."

Ran nodded. She was relieved to know that Shinichi hadn't disappeared again but the fact that he had called Miyano and not Kazama or Ikeda made her realise that he cared for her more than the others.

'He knew that she was worried and tried to comfort her.' Ran thought with a hint of sorrow. Just then, she remembered the strange expression on their faces when she and Sonoko had left the night before. It was... pain. She was sure but...

'Why?' she thought, looking at the two girls and the boy in front of her, 'I wonder why they were so in pain.'

After having been in silence for a while, Ran decided to dare and ask.

"Ehm, Ikeda-san? Kazama-san? Miyano-san?"

Rei, Ryu and Shiho looked at her.

"Do you mind if I ask you a thing?" she asked.

"No." Rei said, "Go ahead."

"Well, yesterday I noticed that you three had a strange expression on your faces: it was shortly before I left with Sonoko."

Even though they didn't show it openly, Ryu, Rei and Shiho were slightly surprised: they didn't think that she could have noticed their sudden change of humour. They looked at each other and after a silent agreement, they decided to speak. It was Rei that started.

"We hoped that no one would have noticed." she remarked with a small smile, "Great skills of observation, Mouri-san."

Ran smiled sheepishly.

"Thanks but.. well, why were you so sad?" she asked. Then, feeling that she was asking too much, she added: "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, don't worry." Ryu said reassuringly, "Mouri-san, do you remember what Suzuki-san said last night before you left?"

"Ehm, not exactly." she said. after thinking a bit, "She said a lot of things. As usual."

"Her exact words were: Can't you spend the holidays with your parents?" Shiho said, "Isn't it better to be with your family?"

Ran looked slightly confused: she couldn't see how those words could have hurt them so much. Rei seemed to notice it: she glanced at Ryu and Shiho, who nodded in return and turned to face Ran.

"Mouri-san, we'll explain you a few things now but.." she said, "You have to promise us to keep them to yourself. No one else has to know."

"Ok." Ran said slowly.

Rei took a deep breath and started to speak.

"Mouri-san, the word family affects us deeply. Anyway, what I'm saying now is referred only to me." she remarked, "Remember when I came here three years ago? I had just moved from Europe and hardly six months later I moved to USA." Ran nodded. "What nobody knew was that I lived with a guardian. You see, my parents died in car crash when I was twelve." Ran's eyes widened in shock. "That's why I was very.. secretive at school. The only ones to know this detail of my past besides Shinichi, Ryu and Shiho are the Kudos, who were good friends of my parents, and Agase."

"Coming to me." Ryu said, "My family had moved to USA for my father's work. One night a burglar entered our house and was caught by my parents: he killed them with a gunshot and then, he put the house on fire. My younger sister died in the fire. I was twelve too."

Ran didn't move: her eyes were full of shock.

"As for me." Shiho said, "My parents died when I was small: I hardly remember them. I only had my elder sister and.. she died nearly a year ago."

Ran was speechless: if she had only imagined it, she wouldn't have asked.

"That's why we were so.. ehm... disturbed by Suzuki's sentence." Rei explained, "Being with our family is the thing we want most but.. we can never do that."

"I'm sorry." Ran apologized, "I shouldn't have asked this to you."

"Don't worry, Mouri-san." Ryu said with a smile, "You couldn't know and, by the way, we told you everything spontaneously."

"He's right. You don't have to apologize." Shiho added.

Ran looked at them: she hardly new them but she admired them.

The "American ones", as the whole school had named them, were very popular, polite, brilliant in their studies as in sports. But no one knew them besides Shinichi Kudo. He was the only one with whom they talked freely but, now, Ran realised that they had confessed her something of their past.

'Did they do it because I know Shinichi and I'm his friend or because they trust me?' she thought. The question never got an answer.

"I promise I won't say anyone what you have told me." Ran said with a smile.

Ryu, Shiho and Rei smiled slightly.

"Thanks, Mouri-san." they replied.

"I'd better go." Ran stated, "Sonoko will be wondering where I've gone. See you later."

Saying this, she left the rooftop, closing the door behind her and leaving the other three alone.

"Do you think we've done the right thing telling her details of our past?" Ryu asked, "Her father's a detective and she might want to find out more."

But Rei shook her head.

"No, I don't think she would do it." she remarked, "She's trustworthy: our secrets are safe."

"All right." he said and turned to Shiho, "Shinichi didn't say where he is, did he?"

"No, he just ignored the question." the blonde replied, "But I noticed that he sounded tired and he seemed to be pretty busy."

"Busy?" Rei asked.

"Yes, he said that he had to go as though he had to do something urgently."

"Oh Lord, what on Earth is that boy up to?"

Ryu had been silent and hadn't joined the girls' discussion. He was thinking.

"Rei, Shiho, have you wondered why he left?" he asked.

The girls looked at him and shook their heads.

"What about you, Ryu?" Rei asked, "Do you have an idea?"

"Well, maybe our... well, my reaction might have hurt him."

"What?" Rei exclaimed.

"You didn't say anything that could hurt him." Shiho added.

Ryu looked at them with a strange expression.

"Are you sure?" he asked and we went on before the girls could reply, "Do you remember what Shinichi said the first day we settled at his place? It was dinner time and we had finally finished unpacking.."

FLASHBACK

Rei, Shiho, Ryu and Shinichi were in the kitchen, preparing their first dinner together at the Kudo's house.

"Hey Shinichi, where do you keep the oil bottle?" Rei asked, looking around.

"Ehm... check in that cupboard near the oven." he replied, "It was there last time."

"Here it is. Listen, can I take this bowl, too?"

"Of course. Go ahead."

As Rei went to the stove, Shiho, who was cutting some vegetables, looked up.

"Shinichi, can I take that large plate that's in the cupboard?" she asked.

"Yes, go ahead." he replied again.

Just then, Ryu, who was setting the table, turned to him.

"Can I take those plates?" he asked.

'ARGH!' Shinichi thought.

"Yes, Ryu, you can take them." he replied, "And... guys?"

The other three looked up.

"You don't have to ask me everything. Now, this place isn't only my house but it's also your house. Have you understood? Behave as though you were at home."

END FLASHBACK

"This place isn't only my house but it's also your house. Behave as though you were at home." Ryu recited, "Those were his exact words: I just remembered them."

An uncomfortable silence fell among them.

"Shinichi wanted to comfort us but we didn't give him the chance." Rei remarked, after a while.

"We just locked ourselves in our rooms without saying a word." Shiho added.

Ryu shook his head in disbelief.

"And I said that if it wasn't for the Organisation, we'd still have a family and a place called home." he stated, "Oh God, I'm a fool!"

"Ryu, calm down." Rei said, slightly worried for his outburst, "You were.. upset."

"Upset or not, I must have hurt his feelings." he retorted, "He has done a lot for us and that's how I repaid him."

Neither Rei or Shiho could reply. He was right: even though it wasn't totally his fault. They had their share of fault, too.

"So, you think that he has left because of our hasty reaction?" Shiho asked.

"It's possible." Ryu remarked.

"But what does he want to do?" Rei asked, "What's this .. business he's got?"

"I don't know." Ryu answered, turning around and looking down the rail, "I don't know."

"We'll find out when he comes back." Shiho remarked quietly.

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Ryu, Rei and Shiho were brought back home by Agase, who seemed to have gone shopping because the car's trunk was bulging. When Rei asked what he had bought, he answered vaguely, saying that he needed some things for his inventions. This made them even more suspicious..

As they went inside the house, they half expected to see Shinichi with his trademark smile, as though nothing had happened. But only silence greeted their entrance.

They went upstairs after having said goodbye to Agase. They had many things in their mind and they hoped they wouldn't get any work to do: they weren't focused.

They went back downstairs and got inside the studio. Shinichi had made four spare keys of the studio's door, beside his own, and gave it to Ryu, Rei, Shiho and Agase.  
Rei turned the laptop on and checked the mail while Ryu and Shiho opened the windows to let some fresh air in. She had entered her account when she noticed a few e-mails from Matt. She smiled slightly as she read the object of the first one.

Object**: Ford asks for Christie's help... HELP ME! **

With a bit of curiosity, Rei clicked the button "Read the message". There was a short message followed by a long sequence of numbers.

Rei scanned the message and arched an eyebrow just reading the first line.

_"Hi girl, how you're doing?"_

'Matt wants something.' she thought, 'He usually says "Hi girl" when he needs something quickly. Well, let's see what he wants...'

_Hi girl, how you're doing? _

_Listen, you've got to do me a favour. Guess you already knew that, didn't you? Anyways, we've nearly got to IT: just have to sort out a couple of things. But coming to the point, we need some names and I found these sequences during one of my visits to some friends._

Rei smirked: Matt's visits to some friends usually meant FBI's raids to criminals.

_I think that it's something important, Christie. Probably the names of the big ones. I've sent you a copy: no one else here has been able to read it. You're the only one who can do it: I believe in your ability._

_The other stuff I've sent is the usual: nothing different from the other times. I know I'm asking too much but try to send the sequence's reading soon. I wouldn't ask you it wasn't urgent. As I said before, we're nearly there to get THEM. I'll probably show up soon, so wait for news._

_Say hi to Ellery, Conan and Ai and good work to all._

_Bye Christie! _

_Ford (the damn guy that always loads you with work)_

Rei smiled slightly: Matt never changed. She slowly scanned the sequence of numbers and letters and groaned inwardly: at a first look, it seemed different from the one she had decrypted last time.

'Great!' she thought, 'Just what I needed now: a code to decrypt.'

She drew out a notebook from the drawers of one of the studio's desk and quickly copied down the sequence. Ryu approached her and looked over her shoulder.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Work for me." she replied, without looking up, "Matt has sent us a few things: take them from my laptop."

Shiho got closer as Ryu downloaded the e-mails with the work for them. A few minutes later they settled to work.

They were so busy working that didn't hear the front door open and Agase slide in with a large box. He looked around and noticed the studio's door half closed and with the lights on.

'They must be inside.' he thought and headed to the living room. Shinichi had given him a work to do and he was determined to do it but nobody had to be home. He hid the box behind an armchair and quickly left, quietly closing the door behind him.

And now, the crucial point.

What could he make up so that Ryu, Rei and Shiho would leave the house for a while?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was nearly midnight but Shiho, Rei and Ryu hadn't still gone to sleep.

After a quick dinner, they had gone back to the studio to work. It seemed that they were determined to finish as soon as possible and the fact that they didn't have school the next day was a good chance to go on working.

Ryu and Shiho were working slowly: Matt had asked some information about certain people. They were browsing in Internet to find what they needed but they weren't working as usual.

Rei, on the other hand, had filled up half her notebook with notes and hints on the code she was working on. She had guessed that boolean numbers had something to do with it but she still hadn't figured out how to work it out. She wasn't able to concentrate more.

She was still cracking her head over the sequence when a light tap on her shoulder made her look up. Ryu was right behind her.

"Rei? How is your work going on?" he asked.

"I've sorted out a few things but I just can't find the final solution." she remarked, pointing to her notes.

"Well, it's late. I think you could work better after a night's sleep."

"Uhm.. you're right. I do need to rest."

"No wonder at all." Shiho stated, approaching her, "No one has slept much last night."

"All right. We'll continue tomorrow." Rei said, shutting her notebook and turning off her laptop.

The three youngsters went upstairs. None of them had entered the living room: so no one had noticed the box Agase had hid there.

**Agase's house**

Professor hadn't still gone to bed. He was waiting for a phone call.

'Why doesn't he call?' he thought, pacing up and down the kitchen, 'He knows I hate staying up late!'

He yawned and felt his eyes slowly close but the sudden ring of the phone startled him. He rushed to answer it.

"Hello?" he said.

_"Hello, Professor. You're still awake: I never thought you would have been able to do it." _Shinichi teased.

"Very funny, Shinichi-kun. I hope it won't become a habit: it's the second night that you want to talk me. Tell me, _why _couldn't you call me before? At a normal time?"

_"Sorry, Agase but I was busy. You know, despite Rei and Ryu's teaching, I'm still kind of slow with computers."_

"So how are your researches going on?"

_"I've found the one for Rei immediately and I've just found Ryu's one. The problem is Shiho: I'll have to work hard to find hers."_

"I see. Shinichi-kun, they are very worried about you, you know?"

_"That's why I called them. They know that I'm safe and sound. By the way Professor, have you done what I've told you?"_

"I've bought everything but I still haven't arranged a thing. I have to be alone to do it."

_"Good point. You should get rid of Ryu and the girls for a few hours."_

"As though it was easy... You're the mind of this plan: tell me what to do."

Shinichi didn't answer for a while. Then, an idea came to his mind and he quickly told it to Agase.

"Do you think they'll believe me?" the old scientist asked.

_"Well, we'll have to hope so. We're telling the truth. " _the young detective replied, _"Anyway, Professor, I've got to go to bed: I'm exhausted and I've got to wake up early tomorrow."_

"What about the stars? Did you find them?"

_"Oh yes. It was the first thing I did after I left."_

"All right then. See you tomorrow, Shinichi-kun."

_"Yes. Thanks for your help Professor: I know you hate lying and hiding things to Shiho, Rei and Ryu but you know how much I care for my plan to work."_

"It's not a problem."

_"Ok. See you tomorrow, Agase. Good night."_

"Good night, Shinichi-kun."

As he put down the phone, Agase smiled slightly, thinking of Shinichi and his care for Shiho, Rei and Ryu.

'I can't wait to see their faces tomorrow.' he thought.

Then, he walked upstairs, glad that he could finally go to bed.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Why on Earth does he need all this stuff?" Ryu asked with exasperation.

It was Saturday afternoon: Christmas Eve to be exact.

Ryu, Rei and Shiho had worked till lunch time and were keen to do the same afterwards. However, their plans were shattered by Agase. He said that since it was Christmas Eve, he would have invited them for dinner. Shinichi included since he was due to come back that day. Ryu and the girls had hardly had time to say that they would have come that Agase asked them to do some -last minute shopping- as he called it. They had tried to untangle themselves from this, saying that they couldn't go around like it was nothing but Agase retorted that even the Organisation wouldn't be active at Christmas time.

They had avoided to answer.

Agase had told them to take his car, saying that, in this way, it wouldn't have been too tiring for them. He was right: they would have never carried all the bags that filled the trunk.

Coming to point, it was already five o'clock and they still had some things to buy and their moods were not high.

"Let's see... cinnamon, ginger and some other spice I've never heard of." Rei muttered scanning the list, "You know, I seriously doubting of Professor's sanity: since when is he interested on foreign cooking?"

"Foreign cooking?" Ryu asked, not taking his eyes from the street.

"Well, with all the spices and vegetables he asked us to buy, I doubt he'll use them for some local dishes."

"It might be." Shiho remarked from the back seat, "Agase often said that he would have liked to cook plates of other countries. He said that it would have been a nice change."

"Great. We'll be his human guinea-pigs tonight." Ryu said sarcastically, "I just hope we won't get ill or something."

The girls smirked at his remark.

"Hey, stop Ryu!" Rei said after a while, "I think we can find everything here."

The car stopped in front of a small shop that displayed large jars full of different items at the window.

"I hope so." the boy stated, "If we don't hurry up we'll get blocked in traffic: it's Christmas Eve after all."

They all got out and headed to the store. A cold gust of wind forced them to wrap themselves more in their scarves and jackets. As they entered the store, they noticed a small board: Father Christmas on his sleigh drawn by reindeer that was flying in the sky flickered by snowflakes. Under the picture was the writing _Merry Christmas to all!_

They looked at it for a moment and then, walked on.

Rei, Shiho and Ryu had discussed about the night Shinichi had left, when they worked in the studio, and they also talked about their painful memories. It was easy to talk to someone that knows personally what it means to feel your pain. They had come to the conclusion that, yes their suffering was plausible but they had to go on living. For themselves and for their families.

As Rei had said once: "We must live not only for ourselves but also for them." They had also decided that they had to apologize to Shinichi: they didn't know why he left but, somehow they were sure that their cold reaction to Sonoko's words, had had its part. Shinichi knew a lot of Rei, Ryu and Shiho but they hadn't trusted him enough to confess their painful feelings.

_Trust._

It seems simple to trust someone but it's not true.

Trusting someone is hard and they knew it better than anyone else. The events of their past and present had built an invisible wall around them: Rei, Shiho and Ryu only trusted the ones they are sure to be their friends and Shinichi was the first of the short list.

Nevertheless, they hadn't told him anything last night..

The three walked along the aisles, taking the things that were on the list. They paid and left about fifteen minutes later.

-

It was a quarter to seven and a very annoyed Ryu, Rei and Shiho got out of the car, carrying some bags. As Ryu had foreseen, they had got stuck in the chaotic Christmas traffic for more than an hour. They headed to Agase's house to give him all his shopping but, much to their surprise, nobody answered.

"Where is he?" Rei asked after a few minutes.

"I don't know." Ryu said, "Do you think he had to buy.. something else?"

"After all the things he asked us to buy?" Shiho remarked.

"Good point." he stated, "Well, let's look around."

They left the bags in front of the door and walked towards the Kudo's house. The first they noticed was that the front gate was slightly open. They looked at each other.

"Do you think Professor is in?" Rei asked.

"Well, I hope so.." Ryu muttered, walking in front of them, "I'll go and see."

"We're coming with you." Rei said firmly.

"Don't even try to leave us behind." Shiho added.

Ryu tried to retort back but the look on the girls' faces made him understand that anything he would have said would have been useless.

"All right." he said and the three walked to the door and opened it with caution. Ryu looked around: everything was still and silent.

"Well, everything seems ok." Rei stated but, nevertheless, she was cautious and the others did the same. The last thing they wanted was to be welcomed by someone of the Organisation... fortunately this didn't happen.

Agase walked out from the living room and seemed startled to see them. Ryu, Rei and Shiho stared at him: he looked exhausted.

"Oh.. you're back." the old scientist said, approaching them, "You came early."

"Early?" Ryu repeated, raising an eyebrow. Rei looked at Agase in disbelief.

"Professor, it's a miracle if we are here now and not still blocked in the traffic." Shiho remarked.

"By the way, why are we.. early?" Ryu asked.

"Well..." Agase started.

"Well..?" Shiho asked

"It's just that..."

"That...?" Rei said.

_"I'll explain you everything. Leave poor Professor in peace."_

Shiho, Rei and Ryu whipped around, recognizing the voice.

Shinichi was standing near the staircase. It was really Shinichi: he was wearing the same clothes he wore two days ago and looked tired but he had his usual smile.

"Shinichi-kun has just come back." Agase said to the surprised Ryu, Rei and Shiho.

As the initial shock wore off, the happiness and relief of seeing him safe and sound turned into anger.

Rei was the first to approach him and her welcome was not what Shinichi had expected.

"What in God's name were you thinking when you left?" she asked in a very, _very _restrained calm and cool voice. The young detective actually felt a chill run down his spine. He knew Rei well but he had never seen her mad. You didn't have to be a detective to see that she was really angry now.

"I can explain.." he said, taking a few steps back.

"Oh, sure you will." Ryu stated in a ice cold tone. Shinichi felt another chill run down his spine.

"Calm down, will you?" he said, looking at him, "Please."

"By the way, what was this important business that you had to do?" Shiho asked, approaching him, "So important that you had to leave without a word."

Shiho's voice, if it was possible, was colder than both Ryu and Rei's put together. He felt as though someone had just poured a bucket of ice water on him. Add the fact that Rei, Ryu and Shiho had trapped him in a corner and you would know how he felt. He had just realised how worried his friends must have been.

'I'd better hurry up.' he thought quickly.

"Listen, I tell you everything, I promise." he said, "But first, go in the living room."

"WHAT?" the other three exclaimed.

Expecting another harsh reaction, Shinichi hastily spoke out.

"I swear I'll explain but first go, please... and then, you can kill me."

Rei, Shiho and Ryu looked at each other and then at Shinichi. They nodded slowly and headed to the living room. Shinichi sighed in relief and so did Agase, unnoticed to anyone. The two went into the living room and immediately saw Ryu, Rei and Shiho frozen in the middle of the room, looking around in awe.

"So, do you like the décor?" Shinichi asked, walking in front of them. Then, watching their faces, he smiled, "I'll take that as a yes."

The living room was beautifully decorated.

Golden and silvery Christmas wreath was hanging on the walls and ceiling. A large Christmas tree was in a corner, full of colourful balls and bells and lights. It was quite a sight.

Ryu and the girls had nearly forgotten what it was like to see a house with decorations. They just looked at the room with a strange feeling bubbling inside them: a pleasant forgotten feeling.

"When did you do this?" Shiho asked.

"Don't look at me." Shinichi said, "Professor did everything."

Ryu, Rei and Shiho looked at the old scientist.

"Really?" Rei asked, "When?"

"While you were out." Agase replied.

"That's why you sent us shopping." Ryu remarked, "Everything was planned, right Shinichi?"

Shinichi nodded.

"So, will you finally tell us where you have been?" Rei asked but Shinichi held out his hand.

"First, look under the tree." he said, "I think there's something for you."

Rei walked to the tree and noticed that there were three packages. She picked them up and turned to Shinichi.

"These?" she asked.

"Yes." he replied.

Rei looked at the packages: the two smaller ones had her and Ryu's name. The bigger one was for Shiho. Rei handed the packages to them and sat down on an armchair. Shiho sat down on the couch while Ryu stood close to the window. He looked up.

"Can we open it?" he asked Shinichi and the boy nodded.

Ryu, Rei and Shiho slowly began to open the package. Shinichi looked at Agase and, unnoticed to the others, they left the room.

**Ryu**

Ryu was the first to reveal what was inside: it was a picture frame. He curiously turned the frame around and his eyes widened when he saw the photograph.

'No..' he thought, not believing his eyes, 'It.. can't be...'

_His family._

His mother, his father and his sister. For the first time, since their funeral services, he was looking at the faces of the people he loved most: his parents and his sister Françoise. Ryu recognised the place where the photo had been shot. It had been taken in America: they had just moved there and his father had just joined the company that was interested on his devices.

With a smile on his face, Ryu looked at the photo.

Misaki Kazama had hazel hair and blue eyes: he was tall and handsome and had a hand on his son's shoulder. Next to him, stood his wife, Catherine Misaki: she was beautiful just as Ryu remembered. She had waist-length blonde hair and light blue eyes. Standing in front of them were two children: a boy and a girl. Twelve year old Ryu and seven year old Françoise: both with dark blonde hair and light blue eyes. Ryu's eyes softened as he looked at his sister: she was smiling happily, like any other child at that age, and holding her elder brother's hand. They were all smiling.

Ryu's heart was aching but he couldn't take his gaze of the picture.

He felt as though he had found his family again.

**Rei**

Rei opened the package and gasped softly as she saw the picture on the frame.

_She and her parents._

Together. Happily.

'Long time no see. Mom and Dad.' she thought as a smile crept on her face.

It had been a long time since she had last seen a photo of them. Rei had been forced to leave all the things that belonged to her parents when she left for Europe.

"We don't know who could be after you." her guardian had said, "We have to take advantage of the fact that Ikeda is a common surname and keep you safe till the dust settles. I'm sorry but you can't take anything that can imply a connection between you and your parents."

Imply a connection. She was their daughter, for heaven's sake! She was a living connection to them. She still remembered how she felt when Shiro-san had said this: she knew that he only wanted to protect his best friend's daughter but she was still irritated by his words. However, she agreed and left for Europe with all her things. The only things she refused to leave were her parent's last presents: the violin and the chain. Nothing else. No photos.

Rei stared at the picture.

Hayato Ikeda had black hair and deep blue eyes and he looked very handsome in his typical dark tuxedo. Saiyuri Ikeda, on the other hand, wore a simple two piece skirt and blouse but she was just as elegant as her husband. They both had a hand on their daughter's shoulder: Rei was probably ten in the picture. She vaguely recognized where it had been shot but she could remember precisely.

But she didn't care about it now.

She only wanted to look at her mother and father again, after all those years.

**Shiho**

She opened her package just to find that it was the wrapping of other two objects: one was flat and rectangular, the other was a box. She put the box-shaped package aside and, with slight curiosity, she opened the flat one.

It was a picture frame and the moment she saw the photo, Shiho felt a lump in her throat.

"One-chan." she whispered.

_Akemi._

Akemi was smiling at her. She was just as she remembered: tall, long dark hair, sparkling blue eyes and with that warm smile that she loved so much. Tearing her eyes off her sister's face, Shiho looked at the background: it looked like a park, maybe a school. She wasn't sure.

How Shinichi had found this picture was beyond her but she was glad he found it.

Her elder sister was back with her again.

-

Ryu, Rei and Shiho didn't realise it but they spent nearly ten minutes in silence in the living room, watching the pictures. Ryu was the first to react: he looked up and saw that Shinichi and Agase were not there anymore. He approached the armchair and gently tapped Rei's shoulder. The girl looked up with a start.

"Oh, Ryu." she said, getting up, "What do you...?"

Her voice trailed off as she noticed that he was holding a frame in his left hand.

She looked up at him.

"Is that a photo of your..?"

The boy nodded.

"I suppose that your picture is the same." he said.

"Yes." she replied and flashed a smile that nearly made Ryu melt on the spot.

"How do you think he has found them?" Shiho asked, approaching them and joining the conversation.

"I don't know." Ryu said, "But he must have worked hard."

"I think he did some research on Internet." Rei remarked, "But you're right: he must have worked hard."

"Where is he anyway?" Shiho asked, looking around. The other two shrugged.

They left the living room and found Agase, struggling with a lot of shopping bags and heading to the kitchen. Feeling pitiful, they helped him.

"Professor, if the shopping was just a way to let us leave, what will you do with all this stuff?" Rei asked, putting a bag on the kitchen table.

"Well, I'll use it for tonight's dinner." the old scientist promptly answered.

"Wait, there still is a dinner?" Shiho asked.

"Of course! Shinichi-kun and I have been doing it for the past five years."

"Really?" Ryu asked.

"Yes. Shinichi-kun has spent every Christmas Eve with me since his parents have moved."

"And you do all the cooking?" Rei asked.

"Yes, I don't trust Shinichi-kun's cooking."

"Speaking of Shinichi, where is he?"

"Upstairs. He's very tired and he wanted to take a shower. You should take one too: after all the work I've given you today. Don't worry of dinner: I'm in charge of that."

Nodding in agreement, Rei, Ryu and Shiho went back to the living room to take their gifts. Shiho noticed only then that she had forgotten to open the other package.

'I'll open it later." she thought, 'After the shower.'

Ryu and the girls went upstairs. Shinichi was still in the bathroom so they waited in their rooms, after having decided the turns. Ryu told the girls to go first: so, after a quick agreement, Rei was to go in first.

They were in their rooms when Shinichi showed up, rubbing his hair with a towel. He had changed his clothes and looked quite refreshed. He had hardly reached his room when he noticed Ryu, Rei and Shiho at their rooms' door. He grinned sheepishly.

"Are you all here to kill me?" he asked.

"Probably." Ryu replied with a smile, "It depends on you."

"And on your answers to our questions." Shiho added, crossing her arms on her chest.

"All right, go ahead." Shinichi said, leaning on the wall, "I'll tell you everything."

There was a brief silence at first, then Rei spoke up.

"Why did you leave?" she asked.

"Hmm, we start immediately with a tough question." he stated, "Anyway, I promised... well, I felt useless two days ago."

"Useless?" Shiho repeated.

"Yes. Sonoko's words hurt you and you three locked yourselves in your rooms while I spent a few hours thinking on the couch."

"Because of my words?" Ryu asked. Shinichi turned to him.

"Well, yeah."

"Listen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean.."

"No, Ryu, you don't have to apologize. You were right, after all."

"What?"

"When you went in your rooms, my first impulse was to come and talk with each of you, but a second later, I realised that I wouldn't know what to say. Well, let's face it: I will never understand how you three feel. I'd be a hypocrite if I said I do." Rei, Shiho and Ryu didn't say anything, so Shinichi went on. "Your homes and families. I thought about them and I obviously realised that I couldn't do anything.. to bring them back, could I? So, I began to think of something else. Something _I _could do to make you three feel a little better. I already consider you part of the family and I don't want to see you suffer."

Ryu hid a smile, bowing his head while both Rei and Shiho's eyes softened. They were touched by his words and they had all also thought the same thing.

Shinichi had felt guilty. He felt guilty because he had something they had lost years ago. His sense of self-righteousness, one of his best qualities at times, obliged him to let them taste the normal happiness he had always been used to. They should have known...

"Shinichi, you're wrong." Rei remarked.

"Huh?"

"Yes. It's not true that you can't understand how we feel." she said, looking at him, "You are probably the only one that understands us." The young detective looked confused and this made her smile. "Say, aren't you the great detective?" she asked mockingly, "Don't tell me that you're so clueless."

Shinichi frowned at her while Ryu and Shiho smirked.

"Rei, you've lost me." he replied.

"All right. How much time do we four know each other?" she asked. Not waiting for an answer, she went on, "Even though it seems more, we've know each other for nearly four months."

"Only four?" Shinichi asked, "Wow, it seemed a lot more to me."

"Same for me." Ryu said.

"Probably because many things have happened since we've met." Shiho remarked.

"That's the point." Rei said, "Since we've met, we have always been together: working, talking, going to school, training (Shinichi and Ryu smiled), planning and we also narrowly escaped a member of the Organisation. Quite a bit in four months. And in these months, we've known each other better."

"Where are you coming to?" Shinichi asked. Shiho and Ryu knew what she was going to say.

"Ehm, do you remember what you said the first day we settled here?" Rei said, "This place isn't only my house but it's also your house. Behave as though you were at home."

"Yes, I said it to you while we having dinner." he replied.

"We had a talk, shortly after we found out that you had left." Ryu remarked, "We remembered your words and well, felt guilty. You have practically accepted us as members of your family and made us live in your house. You have done a lot for us but we didn't trust you enough to tell you how we were feeling. I'm sorry for that, Shinichi."

"I'm sorry, Shinichi." Rei said.

"I'm sorry, Shinichi." Shiho said.

"Hey, come on! You don't need to apologize." Shinichi remarked, slightly embarrassed.

"All right." Ryu said, "But you promise to forget my words."

"No problem." the other replied with a smile. He felt as though a heavy weight had been removed away from him.

"Where have you been in the last two days?" Ryu asked

"Oh, I was wondering when you'd ask... I was at the University." Shinichi replied.

The other three looked at him blankly.

"The University?" Rei repeated, "The one that's near the station of Nerima?"

"Yeah."

"What on Earth were you doing there?"

"I had to find your photos! Where else could I go? The University has got a lot of good computers so I set to work there."

"Computers...?" Rei asked in confusion. Then, realisation dawned on her face, "Of course, the archives..."

Ryu looked at her blankly.

"Care to enlighten me?" he asked.

Shinichi answered instead.

"It was Agase that gave me the hint." he said, "I told him that I wanted to find photos of your families and I asked where I could look for them. He suggested the archives of the University: they catalogue everyone and everything there. So, I began to search. I found Rei's photo easily. I found it in a site where were registered all the presentations of Dad's books."

Rei inwardly slapped herself: she had just remembered where the photo had been taken.

"Yes, that photo was shot during the presentation of Yusaku-san's book." she said, "The first place we met each other."

Shinichi nodded and went on.

"I had a few problems for Ryu's one. Your father was famous and there were many of his photos but none with his family. I searched for an entire day without results, then I remembered that Agase had said that he met your parents during a scientific convention. I checked them out and finally found one with the whole Kazama family."

Ryu smile gratefully at him and turned around to eye the photo that was on his desk.

"Well, I had even more trouble to find yours, Shiho. I tried to find one with your whole family but I didn't make it. I found the picture of your sister in the website of her college. She was quite brilliant, you know? Her name appeared often for her high marks. I found her photo on the page of a trip she had gone to."

Shiho didn't know what to say: she just nodded.

"So, are the questions finished?" Shinichi asked.

"Not yet." Rei said, "You have done all this in two days?"

"Yes. I've finished this afternoon around five o'clock."

"Did you sleep at all?" Ryu asked, "You look exhausted."

"I'd like to see you after two days of work and five hours of sleep.."

"Why?" Shiho asked.

"Huh?" Shinichi said.

"Why did you do everything in such a hurry?"

"Well, one if I hadn't come back soon, you three would have murdered me." Rei and Ryu hid a smirk as he said this. "And two," he went on, "I wanted to give you the photos as a Christmas gift."

Once again, the three were touched by his words. Just then, they realised a small detail and a rather embarrassed expression appeared on their faces. Shinichi noticed the change at once.

"Something wrong?" he asked with a hint of concern.

"No, it's just that. we.. I didn't get you anything." Shiho said softly.

Shinichi heard a mumbled "Me neither." coming from Rei and Ryu.

"Don't worry." he said and then he grinned. "I'll expect something big from you three next Christmas."

He looked at Shiho, Rei and Ryu and they all burst out laughing.

"By the way, who's the next in line to take a shower?" Shinichi said, when they calmed down, "It's getting late and Agase will get mad if we come late to his Christmas dinner."

"It's my turn." Rei said. Suddenly, she approached Shinichi and hugged him.

The boy blushed taken aback.

"Rei..? What the... ?" he stammered.

"Thank you, Shinichi." she whispered. Then, breaking the embrace, she headed to her, took a change of clothes and went to the bathroom.

Shinichi looked at Rei and then turned to Ryu.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Let's see..." Ryu faked a look of concentration, "I think she wanted to thank you for the gift, for saying that she was part of your family and that she could consider your house as her own." He paused significantly. "But that's just a guess. Unless... oh God.. she hasn't fallen for you all of a sudden, has she? Please, tell me first: give me time to be jealous."

Shinichi laughed and Ryu grinned. Shiho's lips were twitching as she heard Ryu's explanation.

"By the way, Shinichi, I've got to thank you too." Ryu said, "You don't know how much your words and.. sudden crazy actions mean to me."

Shinichi, not knowing what to say, just smiled. Ryu went to his room, closing the door behind him, leaving Shinichi and Shiho alone.

The young detective glanced at the blonde girl who was standing near her room's door. Just, then he noticed that she wasn't wearing...

"Shiho?"

"Yes." she said looking up.

"Didn't you open the box?"

It took her a few seconds to realise what he meant.

"The box-shaped parcel? No, not yet."

"Why?" he asked, slightly confused.

"Well, my attention was focused on my sister's photo."

Shiho looked at him with mild curiosity: what was inside that box? She also realised another thing, right in that moment.

"Shinichi?"

"Huh?"

"Why did you give two parcels only to me?"

"What? Well, I... ehm..." he stammered, hesitating, and a thin blush spread onto his cheeks. Shiho didn't say anything: she enjoyed watching him embarrassed. She did the same when she was Ai. Some things hadn't changed..

"Well.." he finally said, "I've never bought you anything since we're together, so... I thought that I could take you something."

He smiled at her as red stripes appeared on his face again. Shiho blushed slightly too: his answer had caught her by surprise.

"A.. All right." she replied and went in her room and sat on her bed to unwrap the other present. She slowly took of the wrapping paper, revealing an engraved wooden box with a butterfly logo on it. Shiho opened it: on a blue velvet covering was a silver chain with a turquoise stone butterfly pendant. Shiho gasped softly, as she remembered where she had first seen the chain. She looked up at Shinichi, who was standing by the door with a smile on his face.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

"Yes but where did you find it?" she asked.

"The same place where you saw it." he replied and grinned as he saw her surprised face.

"The small shop we went to with the Detective Boys? But we went there months ago!" she exclaimed, "By the way, how did you notice that I was looking at this?"

"Well, I'd be a pathetic kind of detective if I didn't notice that your attention was totally on the chain from the moment you saw it." (A.N: I took this idea from Kumatenshi's "The Gift".)

Shiho looked at him with surprise: once again, she had underestimated his detective skills.

"But you like it, right?" he asked again. Shiho nodded and got up, holding the chain. She handed it to Shinichi.

"Do you mind putting it on for me?" she asked.

"No, not at all." he replied.

He unhooked the chain and leaning over her shoulders, he put it on for her. Shiho felt a wave of heat through her body as he got so close to her.

"Well, you're looking great.." Shinichi said, taking a few steps back. Realising what he had just said, he blushed. Shiho smiled shyly.

"Thank you." she replied. Then, quite unexpectedly, she approached him and kissed him lightly on the lips. Shinichi, if possible, blushed a deeper shade of red.

"And that was for...?" he managed to ask as she pulled away.

"For the photo, the chain and for everything else you've done for me since we have met." she replied softly, "For have given me... a person like me like, a chance. Another chance."

Shinichi looked at her and brought her into an embrace.

"Don't say that. You don't have to be so harsh with yourself." he whispered, "You are a wonderful person and you will always deserve a chance. I'll always give one to you."

Shiho didn't know what to say: a wave of gratitude washed through her. She buried her face on his chest, feeling comfortable and enjoying his affection.

They stayed in that position for a while until a muffled cough made them turn around.

A very embarrassed Rei was standing by the door with a towel draped around her shoulders.

"Ehm... the bathroom is free, Shiho." she said.

Shiho and Shinichi broke the embrace, blushing furiously.

"Oh, yes. Thanks, Rei." the blonde girl replied. She took a change of clothes and headed to the bathroom.

Rei turned to Shinichi and smiled apologetically.

"Sorry for the.. interference." she said.

"Don't worry." he said, "I did a similar thing, remember? We're quits now."

"Ok." Rei replied with a smile.

They left Shiho's room and headed to their own ones.

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Agase's dinner had been great, just as he had promised. There were so many dishes on the table that they five couldn't possibly finish everything in one night. The girls had managed to force Agase to take some food home but, as Shinichi had ironically remarked, they wouldn't have worried about cooking for a while.

That night, after having thanked Professor and bid him good night, Shinichi, Shiho, Ryu and Rei went into the living room. It was nearly half past eleven and the Christmas tree's lights were still on, so they sat down on the couch and on the armchairs, admiring the decorations. They stayed in silence for a while, enjoying the calm and rather pleasant atmosphere among them.

Rei was sitting on the couch with Shiho and absently glanced at Ryu and Shinichi who were on the armchairs. Just then, she noticed that Shinichi was wearing a thick black thread chain with a small silver star.

"Shinichi?"

"Yes?" he asked, turning to her.

"Since when you wear a chain?"

At this, Shiho and Ryu looked at him and noticed the chain for the first time. Quite unexpectedly, Shinichi slapped himself on the forehead.

"Oh God, am I a fool!" he exclaimed, "I forgot to give you _them_!" He received a blank silence in reply. "Ehm.. wait a second... I've got to go to Agase's place."

He got up and quickly put his jacket on and left the house.

Back in the living room, Ryu turned to the girls.

"That boy scares me when he does like this." he remarked.

"Yeah, you never know what's in his mind." Rei said in agreement, "But that's one of his best characteristics along with his stubbornness, we have to admit that.."

Shiho and Ryu smiled as she said this.

"I mean, who would work without rest for two days just to find a three old pictures?" she added with a smile, "Only Shinichi."

"Typical of his self-righteousness character." Shiho stated.

"I don't know how to thank him." Ryu remarked, "It's been five years since I've last seen a photo of my family."

"Same for me." Rei said, "It was strange to see Dad in his tuxedo again."

Ryu grinned, making the two girls stare at him.

"What's so funny?" Rei asked.

"No, nothing..." he replied, "I just remembered that my father often had to wear a suit for his conventions and he always protested when he had to wear the tie. You should have seen his face when my mother managed to convince him: he looked as though he was going to suffocate."

A small smile appeared on Shiho and Rei's face.

Just then, they heard the front door and Shinichi appeared.

"Here I am." he said, taking his jacket off and tossing it on the armchair. He was carrying a small bag in his left hand.

"What are you up to, now?" Ryu asked.

Shinichi smiled, drawing out a small box out of the bag and tossed it to Ryu. He took out two more boxes and gave them to Shiho and Rei.

The three looked at him blankly.

"What's this?" Shiho asked, sitting up.

"Open and see." Shinichi replied.

They opened the boxes and inside each of them was a small silver four pointed star.

"What's this?" Rei asked, repeating Shiho's question.

"I got this idea suddenly." Shinichi said, sitting down, "I was looking at the sky, the night I left: it was a clear night with plenty of stars, without the moon. Just then, I realised a thing.."

"What?" Shiho asked curiously.

"I don't know exactly how but I saw a star and it remembered me of us."

"Us?" Rei asked, "You mean the four of us?"

"Yes, we are working to bring the Organisation down, right? Actually, it seems that we have met with that only purpose... Our lives got entwined because of our involvement with the Organisation... so I thought..."

"Like a star shines in the sky fighting the darkness, we are like four points of light that fight against the darkness of the Organisation.." Ryu stated, understanding where he was coming to, " That's a good comparison."

Rei stared at the two boys.

"Now that was deep." she remarked, "I'd have never thought that you two would have such a philosophical mind."

Ryu and Shinichi grimaced at the comment.

"So, that's why you gave us these stars." Shiho said, "To remember our work against the Organisation."

"Not exactly." Shinichi replied, "It's a symbol."

"A symbol?"

"Yes. A symbol. As Rei said before, we've known each other better in these four months.

We're friends but also more... a kind of family: we've developed a close bond that, I hope, will last as long as possible. Mom told me once that to be part of family you don't have to have the same surname or blood: it's just a question of affection. People who stand by you and believe in you no matter what is the situation is your family. A family isn't essentially a person whose blood runs in your veins. The people who believe in you are your family.

So since we four don't have the same surname or the same blood, although we curiously have the same blood group, I thought that we needed something to testify our bond. Something that shines in the darkness and that seems small and harmless but is very big instead. That's why I chose a four pointed star. We are four shining points of the same star."

Ryu, Rei and Shiho had been silent while Shinichi spoke and even now that he had finished, they couldn't speak. They couldn't find the words. Shinichi must have noticed the awkward silence because he looked up at them.

"So, what do you think?" he asked.

Ryu got up, his bangs hiding his eyes but with a small smile on his face. He had found a thick black thread chain in his box: he hooked the star on the chain and put it on. Shiho and Rei put the small star on their own chains: their eyes were oddly bright. Shinichi smiled broadly.

They stayed in silence for a while, until Ryu turned to Shinichi.

"Shinichi, why did Agase have the stars?" he asked.

"Oh, he wanted to add something." he replied, grinning, "Remember when you gave Professor a few of your Dad's devices?"

"Yes, I gave him.. let's see... four or five of them. He said that he wanted to see how the devices worked."

"Right. He kept one device for his researches and put the other four on our stars. He said that in this way, in case someone else disappeared like I did, the others would be able to find him. It seems that Agase has managed to let the devices be traceable with the radars on our glasses."

Ryu turned the star around and, only then, he noticed a small transparent object applied to it.

"Wow, Professor is amazing at times." he said, "I thought my radar could be the only thing to find the devices."

"Never underestimate Agase." Shinichi remarked.

"Well, it seems that we don't have to worry about ourselves anymore." Shiho said, "Agase is always there to keep an eye on us."

"He's taking Matt's words really too seriously." Rei stated.

The four youngsters laughed lightly.

The big grandfather's clock in the living room chimed three times: it was midnight. They bid each other a whispered "Merry Christmas." and stayed there in silence.

No words were needed.

They just stayed there, enjoying their moment of happiness.

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Chapter 21 is FINISHED! I can't believe it: it took me nearly four months to write it. I hope you'll like it because I'm not so sure... I think I've hurried a bit in a few points since I wanted to finish soon.

Anyway, I wrote this chapter to explain the meaning of the title: took me a while, didn't it? It's probably one of the longest ones. I sincerely hope you'll like it.

By the way, if there are grammar mistakes, points that you don't understand or other things, please tell me with an e-mail.

Please, review. I'd like to read some of your comments: it could help to write. Speaking of reviews, thanks for all the ones who have answered my request. I wrote the note because I had a sudden idea and I wanted to know your opinion about it, too. Anyway, I'm still thinking of it. There still a bit of time before my story's first part ends. I'll probably know what to do by then..

Hope to hear you soon and, even though it's late, Happy New Year!

Bye!

A.N: Corrections made


	24. Back to reality

Four points of the same star.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Detective Conan.

A.N: I've corrected all mistakes.

FOUR POINTS OF THES SAME STAR Chapter 22: Back to reality.

**America 5 pm (3 am in Japan)**

Matt was in his office at the FBI headquarters.

He was looking out of the window, lost in his thoughts. He glanced at his desk: an automatic gun, two chargers and a bullet-proof vest were there. Thanks to Rei, Ryu, Shinichi and Shiho, they had got all the evidences. It was only a question of hours..

The Organisation's American headquarter was going to be dismantled.

A grim smile appeared on the boy's face.

He walked away from the window and prepared himself.

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"_Why _are we here?" Shinichi asked rather disgruntled.  
"Don't ask me." Ryu remarked gloomily, "I wanted to stay home like you."  
"Me too." Rei said darkly, "But.."  
"Agase has convinced us." Shiho stated, completing her friend's sentence with a hint of sarcasm, "As usual."  
They sighed loudly, ignoring the chattering around them.

Class 2-A, along with another few classes, was going on a one-day trip.

Destination? Mount Fuji.

Purpose? Scientific researches.

The students had to study the mountain's environment, flora and fauna. The students were enjoying themselves: they didn't care if they had to hike all day on a mountain they all knew well as long as they were not in class, sulking behind their desks.

Let's face it, it's the most natural of things: every student would do anything rather than sitting in class. Who didn't want to skip school?

Everyone... well, nearly everyone.

Shinichi, Shiho, Ryu and Rei were not of the same idea.

They looked at the crowd of students who were gathered in the courtyard, getting in the buses after their names were called by the teachers with a bit of annoyance, wondering what was so amusing in spending the entire day hitch-hiking on a mountain.

A month had past and many things had happened in the meanwhile.

The reason of their bad mood was that they had been forced by Agase to join the trip. They had actually thought to make up an excuse and stay at home but Professor had managed to convince them: he could be incredibly stubborn at times...

"To think that we are here while Matt and FBI are bringing the Organisation's American headquarter down.." Ryu muttered under his breath.

"What should _I _say then?" Rei retorted, "After all the work to decrypt than damn code..."

Shinichi and Shiho smirked slightly, remembering what had happened only a few days ago..

FLASHBACK

It was nearly six in the morning and four alarm clocks began to ring simultaneously. Three were shut down immediately but one kept ringing. Shinichi, Shiho and Ryu woke up, stretching slowly. It took them a few minutes to realise that the ringing was going on. They got out of their rooms, still in their night clothes, wondering why Rei hadn't switched off her clock.

Ryu knocked at her door.

"Rei?" he called. Nobody answered. He turned around to face Shinichi and Shiho, who nodded and he opened the door. The room was empty and it looked like Rei hadn't slept there at all.

"Now thing's are getting repetitive..." Ryu muttered under his breath.

"We'd better get dressed and see where she is." Shinichi suggested.

"I don't think we'll have to look for long." Shiho stated, staring at them, "She can be only _there_."

The three washed and got dressed in less than fifteen minutes. Ryu was the first to get downstairs but instead of going to the kitchen to make breakfast or to the front door to take the papers, he headed straight to the studio.

'That girl's a useless case..' he thought as he opened the door and saw who was inside.

Rei was sitting at the desk she shared with Shiho and was busy typing on her laptop, completely oblivious that Ryu was there. The boy stood there in silence and looked at her. She was fully dressed, the desk was littered with notebooks, books and some sheets of paper full of notes but, most of all, he noticed that she looked exhausted.

He heard Shinichi and Shiho coming down the stairs, so he decided to act: he coughed lightly and this brought Rei out of her thoughts. She looked up and noticed the blonde boy standing by the door with his arms crossed on his chest and with an expression that was torn between amusement and annoyance.

"Hi, Ryu." she said, taking her hands off the laptop. She then, noticed Shinichi and Shiho approaching him and greeted them, too. "Since when are you here?"

"A few minutes." he replied, "Rei, you look awful."

"Gee, thanks for the compliment." she remarked sarcastically, earning a smirk from the other couple, "I'm really flattered."

Ryu managed to hide a smile.

"Rei, when did you get up?" Shiho asked.

"Four o'clock." she replied.

"Four o'clock?" Shinichi repeated, "Rei, you went to bed at midnight!"

"Don't I know..." the girl commented, stifling a yawn.

"You are mad." he stated.

Ignoring his comment, Rei went on typing.

"Sure I'll be mad." she said nonchalantly, "But at least, this mad girl has worked out this sequence."

Ryu's eyes widened.

"No way... you've decrypted the code?" he asked. Rei had been working on the code for nearly a month, since the day Matt had sent it. She had been saying for weeks that she had only hints of a possible solution but not the definite one. And now she...

In a flash, Shinichi, Shiho and Ryu were next to Rei. The girl smiled slightly.

"How did you decrypt it?" Ryu asked. As an answer, Rei handed him a one of the many papers that were on the desk: they were full of calculations. Shinichi and Shiho peered at it too, but just like Ryu, they didn't understand most of it.

"Explain, will you?" Shinichi asked and Rei nodded, not stopping to type though.

"Well, the problem was complex." she said, "Hardly complex. I've found myself in dead ends at least ten times before coming to the right solution. You see, the scientist that made this code is brilliant. Really brilliant. He mixed algebra, calculus and computer science together."

"How?" Shiho asked, scanning a paper on the desk.

"The sequence is written only with 0 and 1." Rei explained, "Boolean numbers: the first thing I had to do was to change all the numbers in base 2 in numbers in base 10. Look at this for example: 0001. It's number 1, if written in base 10. At the beginning, I thought all the numbers must be between one and twenty-six."

"The number of the alphabet's letters?" Ryu asked and Rei nodded.

"Yes, but I was wrong. Obviously, every number had to stand for a letter. I thought code ASCII had to do something with it but it's only used for a few sentences at the beginning of the file: nothing that involves the code. It would have been too easy, wouldn't it? Anyway, as I was saying, every number stands for a letter and every word is divided by a slash. But that's the easy part: I had to find the code's key and believe me, it wasn't simple. I had to consider the number like the result that I got solving the square of a binomial, with variable 'a' equal to 1 and variable 'b' as the number to find. For example: 16 is the result of the square of a binomial where a 1 and b 3. So 16 really meant 3, the third letter of the alphabet, that means letter C. And so on..."

"It's damn complex." Shinichi commented.

"I told you so." Rei remarked, "I had a hint of this last night: that's why I wanted to see if it was right immediately."

"Great work, Rei." Ryu said to her but the slight frown on her face took him aback.

"I wouldn't be so optimistic.." she stated.

"Why?"

"Well, I've nearly finished to write down the sequence but I think that what we'll get when I'll run the program will be just a front page."

"Come again?" Shinichi asked in confusion.

"It's not like the other times." Rei said, "With the archives, we worked out the code and we immediately read the information. But it's different now. If we consider the few hints I've seen in this file, when the code will be decrypted, we'll have a page from a website."

Ryu looked at her in alarm.

"A website?" he asked, "You mean that you'll have to be linked to Internet?"

"Yes." Rei replied.

"Wait a minute... you can't do it! They will track you down in less than a minute!"

"That's why you'll have to help me."

Ryu stared at the girl.

"What?"

"Well, you're the electronic engineer, right? You have to let me be on Internet, without being traced till the program doesn't finish." she said, "As soon as I'll save the page on my laptop, I'll link off Internet and you'll drop the protection."

"What about the rest?" Shinichi asked her, "What if the page you save is just the beginning of a series?"

"We can't guess without facts." she replied, "We'll see what to do afterwards."

"It's risky." Ryu stated.

"It's the only way." Rei retorted.

They looked at each other.

"All right." he said, thinking it over, "Give me a moment."

Ryu walked to the other desk and took his laptop and a cable. He sat down next to Rei, turned his laptop on and fit the cable so that their two machines were connected.

"How much time does your program take?" he asked as he opened a window and began to type quickly.

"More or less two minutes." she said as she finished to copy the program from her notebook.

For a few minutes, the only sound in the room was the furious typing of the two young FBI agents. Shinichi and Shiho stood in the background: they knew that they couldn't help them now. It was all up to them and their talent.

Rei and Ryu finished simultaneously and looked at each other.

"The program is ready to start." she said.

"Ok. The protection is ready, too." he remarked, "It will last three minutes and will start the moment the program starts."

"Ok. Ready?" she asked and he nodded, "Go!"

They both pressed ENTER and the two laptops began to run their programs.

Two minutes had never been so long: the four youngsters' eyes were fixed on the laptops and no one dared to make a sound. If something went wrong, they would all be in trouble..

The moment she saw that the program had finished, Rei dived to her laptop to save the decrypted page. However, one look at it and her eyes clouded.

"Damn it.." she muttered.

"What's wrong?" Shinichi asked.

"I'll tell you later." she replied shortly. She turned to Ryu, "How much time is left?"

"Fifty seconds." he replied, "The program lasted two minutes and ten seconds."

"Quite enough." she said and saved the page on her laptop and linked off the net. She turned around when she finished and nodded at Ryu, who stopped the protection and put his laptop on standby.

"What's wrong, Rei?" Shinichi asked again, "What did you see before?"

"We've got a problem." she replied, "It's the last thing I wanted... The file opened a page with password."

"You mean that the only way to get the information is to put the right password?" Shiho asked.

"Yes and not to be the usual good-news bringer, but I think that we can't make many mistakes."

"What do you mean?" Ryu asked, although he had understood what was going on.

"Well, it's a just a guess..." Rei remarked, "But I think that we can put the right password only in a few tries: otherwise the system will get blocked or worse.."

"Worse?" Shinichi asked.

"Yes. Remember when you, Shiho and Agase retrieved that disk with the information on the APTX from Akemi-san's old teacher?" Rei said, "You tried to open the file but, instead, it blocked your system and all the information got erased. That was all information regarding a scientific project: what kind of protection do you think _this _file would have? It may have the names of the Organisation's leaders. I think that if we put the wrong password, the system will get blocked, a virus will infect our computer and we'll be tracked down. At the very least."

A stunned silence followed her words.

"So, how many tries to you think we have?" Ryu asked, after a while.

"I'm not sure.. but I think two." Rei replied, "I don't think they would risk to block their entire system if a member accidentally put a wrong password. One try is too risky, even for them."

"Two tries.." Shinichi said thoughtfully, "Any hints on the password?"

"No. Nothing." Rei said, "Don't ask me: this is not my subject. You're the expert in these things."

Shinichi smiled grimly.

"Without clues, I'm not that helpful either." he stated.

"Wait, there is a clue." Shiho remarked, making the others look up.

"Really?" Ryu asked, "What?"

"When I was caught by Pisco, I found a laptop in the room he closed me in and I used it to save on a floppy disk all the information I could find about the APTX..."

"You needed to put a password to enter those files." Shinichi said, remembering, "You asked me the spelling of famous detectives' names."

"Famous detectives?" Rei asked.

"Yes. The Organisation used the names of famous detectives as passwords to their projects. Well, to their scientific projects... I don't know if it was used for the non-scientific ones."

"They were similar." Ryu asserted, "I've just remembered. The project I was working on with Scotch had as password James Moriarty."

"James Moriarty? Sherlock Holmes' nemesis?" Shinichi asked, "What project were you working on?"

"Oh, it's the one I've already told you." he replied, "We had to expand the memory of all the Organisation's computers: in this way, they could have worked better. More protections could be added and they could have easily stolen information from other important systems without being intercepted. By the way, what was the password of the APTX's files?"

"Shelling Ford." Shiho replied, "Shinichi told me: I didn't even know he existed."

"The experimental detective..." Ryu commented.

"Very subtle from the Organisation." Rei added, "So, there's the possibility that this password can be deduced the same way."

"Yes but isn't there another problem?" Shinichi asked, "What about the protection?"

"I'll work on that." Ryu said, turning his laptop on again, "I'll just have to make the protection last longer. You three figure out the password."

He set to work immediately. Shinichi, Shiho and Rei looked at each other.

"Any ideas?" Rei asked tentatively.

"The hidden information concerns the Organisation's leaders, right?" Shinichi said thoughtfully, in the usual attitude he took when he was solving a case, "So, the password has to do something with them."

"You mean like the other password's?" Shiho remarked, "Shelling Ford, the experimental detective, with the APTX-4869, the experimental drug."

"And James Moriarty, the man that had often hoodwinked Sherlock Holmes, with the project Ryu was working on, where the Organisation's computers could hoodwink the police and government's systems. The guess could be right.."

Shinichi didn't say anything: he stood there, motionlessly, deep in his thoughts. The girls didn't say anything either: they were all thinking.

"Who did we suppose could be a leader of the Organisation?" Shinichi asked, after a while.

"Well, let's see.. financial magnates or chief police inspectors.." Rei said, "But it's just a guess."

"Generally, people that have power and money." Shiho remarked.

"We didn't consider members of the Government." he stated.

"Could be." Rei said, "But this hasn't solved our problem: we need a password."

In the meanwhile, Ryu had finished with the protection. He turned around and saw at once that they hadn't still found a decent idea.

"Not going well, right?" he asked.

"Not really." Rei said, "What about the protection?"

"It will last five minutes. I'm sorry but it's the most I can do in such a short time."

"We'll have to hope they'll be enough."

Shinichi and Shiho had been hearing their conversation.

"Rei, can you show me the page?" Shinichi asked suddenly.

"Sure." she said and opened the page on her laptop. There wasn't much to say: on a gray background, there was a small, long white rectangle. Nothing else.

"Not much to see." Ryu stated.

"And there's not much to say either." Rei said, "We have to put a password and pray it's right: I know I'm asking too much but we'll have to guess right at the first try."

"In this way we won't risk, right?" Shiho said and the other girl nodded.

"What can it be?" Ryu asked, "Let's see... Lestrade?"

"That pathetic inspector?" Rei retorted, "No."  
"Well, he's a police officer and, according to our reasoning, one of the Organisation's leaders could be one."

"Well, anyone has an idea for a financial magnate?" Shiho asked.

Ryu and Rei shook their heads. Shinichi, on the other hand, hadn't said a word: he was thinking deeply. Then, he got an idea.

"Rei!" he said loudly, startling the girl who nearly jumped.

"Shinichi! For heaven's sake.." she exclaimed, "Don't do that!"

"Ehm.. sorry." she said, "I've just had an idea."

"Are you sure?" Ryu asked.

"Well, nearly." he replied, "We'll never know if we don't try.

The blonde boy nodded and turned to Rei.

Their laptops were still linked so, he could start.

"I'll let the protection start the moment you write the password." he said, "Then, if it's right, save everything as quick as possible."

"All right." she replied, "Shinichi, fire on."

"Mycroft Holmes."

Both Rei and Ryu turned around and stared at Shinichi. Shiho looked at them with confusion.

"Listen, I'm not an expert." she said, "Who's..?"

"Mycroft Holmes is Sherlock's elder brother." Ryu said, "He works in the English Government's offices."

"How can you be so sure, Shinichi?" Rei asked.

"Once I've read in a book a description Holmes gives of his brother." he replied, "My brother works in the Government's offices; actually, in some cases, he _is _the government: a greatly intelligent person, someone unknown to the most but very well positioned in the Crown's lines."

He stopped and looked at the others.

"What do you think?" he asked, "Sounds sensible to me."

"Someone very important but unknown to the most." Rei said, "Always in the shadows."

"Brilliant, powerful and rich." Ryu added.

"It fits perfectly with our definition of the Organisation's leaders." Shiho remarked.

"It's worth a try." Rei admitted, turning around to the screen. She looked at Shinichi sideways and smiled, "The Sherlock Holmes of the Third Millennium strikes again."

"Let's see..." he said cautiously, even though he couldn't hide a smile, "We have to see if it's right."

The girl typed down the name and turned to Ryu who nodded. They pressed the button ENTER together and the room went quiet, as everyone held their breath.

Another page appeared on Rei's laptop's screen: they could read dates and information and then, finally, they read some names and the four youngster's eyes widened, both in shock and surprise.

"Bloody hell.." Ryu muttered, rather uncharacteristically, "So, these are... the leaders."

The main reason of their reaction was that they knew who these people were: two Americans, one was a financial magnate while the other was a popular deputy, and one Japanese who was still chief General of the police.

Rei was the first to react. She gasped slightly and turned to Ryu.

"How much time is left?" she asked quickly.

"What? Oh, yes.. ehm.. three minutes."

"Damn it!"

She set to work at full speed, saving every single thing she thought was useful: she managed to finish ten seconds before the protection wore off. When Ryu turned off his laptop and Rei linked off the net, they both turned around and faced Shinichi and Shiho. Despite the shock and surprise, a small smile appeared on their faces.

They had made it.

They finally knew who were the minds of the Organisation.

They knew who had started it from the beginning.

END FLASHBACK

This had happened hardly three days ago.

Rei had sent everything to Matt the same day and Ryu had also talked to him on the phone, after having checked if the line was bugged, telling him to give them constant news. Ryu had put on the speaker phone so that all could hear. Matt had thanked them for the hard work and had said that with all the information they had by now, they would have attacked soon. Everything was ready: the men, the equipment, the vehicles. Everything had been prepared weeks ago: they had been only waiting for the final evidence. Evidence that Rei, Ryu, Shinichi and Shiho had given them. But on one point, Matt had been categorical: they had to wait till he called them. They had to wait till FBI raided the Organisation's American headquarter and collected all the information and material that was there. Only then, they would have taken part in the plan.

Waiting. God, did they hate that word..

"Ikeda! Kazama! Kudo! Miyano!"

The four snapped out of their thoughts when they heard the teacher call their names. They went inside the bus, feeling more and more annoyed.

One of the largest and most dangerous criminal groups was going to be dismantled and _they _had to go to a stupid trip...

They all thought the same thing, as they sat down at their seats.

_'Why?'_

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_"Now, everybody pay attention, please!"_

Mrs Atsushi, the science teacher, was desperately trying to speak but the loud blabbering was overcoming her voice. Fortunately for her, Mr Takashi was there and it didn't take him long to bring the silence.

"Everybody quiet!" he shouted. The whole group of students stopped talking, startled by his sudden outburst. Takashi smirked and turned to his colleague.

"There you are." he remarked, "Go ahead."

"Oh, yes." she said, "As I was saying, we are here to study the forest around Mount Fuji. You will divide yourselves in small groups and each group will be given a list. We have distributed some Polaroid cameras to you. Well, you will have to take pictures of animals and birds with the given cameras: if you don't see them or you're not able to take them a picture, a photo of their tracks or habitat will be enough. Then, you will have to find some plants and take a sample of them: for sample, I mean a leaf or a flower. So, please, don't damage the plants. You'll have to do so only with the animals, birds and plants that are on your group's list. Am I clear?" Since nobody protested or asked for explanations, she went on. "When you will have done this, you will have to come back here and write down a short report of the fauna and flora you have collected."

She pointed to a group of tables and benches that were not far from where they were. A series of protests began, but Mrs Atsushi held out a hand.

"Don't worry. We have done most of this in class." she said, "And for the few thing you don't know, you have your text books."

"So, that's why she told us to bring them?" Sonoko complained to Ran. As a matter of fact, the teacher had asked the students to bring their science text book, their notebook and some stationery material along with their lunch. Most of them had wondered why and they finally understood now.

Mr Takashi spoke now.

"You will start to collect your samples and take the pictures right away." he said, "But remember, the report must be given to us before we leave. We won't accept them tomorrow with the excuse that you had to write it down better or whatever."

A few groans welcomed his words. Ryu, however, raised his hand.

"Excuse me, sir?" he called.

It was strange but Ryu's calm voice silenced the crowd in the same way Mr Takashi's shout had.

"Yes, Kazama?" the teacher said, turning to him.

"Sir, if a group gives out the report before time, what does it have to do till the leaving?"

"Well, in that case, the students of that group would be free to go around here but have to be back here when we leave. Coming to think of it, we will leave at six o'clock."

Shinichi's eyebrows raised: they had left from school at eight and they had arrived at ten. If they left at six, they would be home at eight.

'It's going to be a long day..' he thought.

"Anyway, there's nothing else to say." the teacher finished, "You can go."

The chattering started at once: the groups were being formed.

Ryu, Rei, Shinichi and Shiho walked towards the forest immediately. A lot of their fellow classmates looked at them go.

"Typical. That four have formed a group on their own."  
"Yeah, how much do you bet that their report will be the first to be given out?"  
"Oh, that's a certitude."

Sonoko and Ran had seen them too. They had formed a group with other two girls: Yuri and Saiyako. They were two nice girls but had one defect: they loved to gossip and had lost their heads for both Shinichi and Ryu. The moment they saw the two boys leave, they both turned to Sonoko who nodded in answer. Ran looked at the three without having a clue of what was going on.

Suddenly, Sonoko grabbed her arm and the four girls walked in the same direction that the first group had taken.

"Sonoko!" Ran exclaimed, "What are you doing?"

"Sssh! Ran, be quiet:" Sonoko said, (It's strange to hear that sentence coming from her...) "I... we are going to follow them."

"What? Why?"

"They always stick together." Yuri pitched in, "They hardly talk to anyone and they are so... mysterious. Especially, Kazama-kun."

"Even Kudo-kun has changed so much." Saiyako added, "Not that he was very talkative before but now..."

Ran decided not to say anything.

True to her word, she hadn't told anyone of her talk with Ikeda, Miyano and Kazama. Moreover, her attitude with Shinichi had been friendly after his definite confession. She was hurt, that's true, but she had decided to hide her feelings. A small spark of hope was still there, hidden inside her heart. The hope that one day, Shinichi would come back to her.. and she would be there.

She snapped out of her thoughts when Sonoko pulled her behind a tree. Yuri and Saiyako crouched behind a large bush. Ran didn't have to ask anything: she saw Shinichi and his friends standing under a large oak tree. They couldn't hear their voices, so the four girls stood their in silence, watching them.

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Shinichi, Shiho, Ryu and Rei were walking silently along a path through the forest.

They had decided to form a group together so that they would have finished as quick as possible. Suddenly, Ryu spoke up.

"We're followed.." he said nonchalantly in a very low tone.

"I've noticed." Rei whispered, "Suzuki, Kojima, Kano and Mouri."

"What should we do?" Shiho asked, "Let them follow us?"

"If they can.." Shinichi remarked.

A smirk appeared on the others faces and they walked on for a while. They stopped when they came under a large oak tree.

"This scene looks awfully familiar.." Shinichi stated.

"Even too much." Shiho added.

Ryu and Rei looked at the tree: automatically, the boy's hand reached for his waist while the girl clutched her right arm.

They didn't want to go to the trip also for another reason.

The last time they had been in a forest, they had met Scotch, they had all risked to die and Rei and Ryu had been injured. After a moment of silence, they looked at each other and a slight smile appeared on their faces.

"Let's leave these cheerful thoughts and get to work." Ryu said, "Who has the list?"

Rei took it out of her jacket pocket and showed it to them and they all peered at the piece of paper.

"Well, animals and birds: for these two, we need the cameras. Then, there are plants divided in trees and flowers." Rei read, "Well, how do we begin?"

"We could each do a category." Ryu suggested, "We would finish earlier."

"Who does what, then?" Shiho asked.

Shinichi looked at the list and then glanced at Ryu, who looked up: the two boys nodded. They had the cameras, fortunately..

"Let's do like this." Shinichi said, taking the list from Rei. He ripped the list in three parts and gave a part to Ryu, to the girls and kept one for himself.

"I take the animals, Ryu the birds while you two get plants and flowers." he said.

Ryu nodded while the girls looked at him with an eyebrow raised but nodded, too.

"We should decide where to meet." Ryu remarked, "Well, what about here."

"Meeting under an oak tree?" Rei said, "Again?"

"Well, let's hope that we'll be luckier than last time." he stated with a grin, "And that we'll all be there in time."

They looked at each other and smiled, despite themselves.

"Ok, we'll start right away." Shinichi said, "And we'll meet here in about... two hours? What do you think?"

"All right." the others said.

They split up a few seconds later: Ryu took a path on the left while Shinichi went on the right. They turned around to the girls, before disappearing in the forest.

"See you later." they said with a smile.

The two girls just waved back. When they were alone, they looked at each other.

"Saying that those two are overprotective is an understatement." Shiho remarked, "Not that I don't appreciate it, but.."

"It can be annoying at times." Rei finished, "But I guess we'll have to get used to it."

"Yes."

"So, let's find these trees and flowers. Straight on?"

"Right."

The two girls walked on.

-

Sonoko, Ran, Yuri and Saiyako got out of their hiding place when they saw the two girls disappeared from sight.

"Why did they split up?" Yuri asked, "How will they find all the things on the list alone?"

"Whatever." Sonoko replied, "What will _we _do? Who are we going to follow?"

Ran decided to speak up.

"Listen, we have to set to work, too." she said firmly.

Sonoko looked at her with a surprised look. It didn't take much for Ran to understand why: her friend had been so busy thinking about how to find out more news on Kazama, Ikeda and Miyano that she had forgotten that they were there for a school project.

"But..." Sonoko started to say but Ran stopped her.

"Sonoko, I don't want to get a low grade in Science." she said, "And neither do you, I presume. So let's get to work."

Seeing that Ran had a point, Sonoko nodded but she hadn't still given up. Then, she had an idea.

"Ok, we'll do like this, then." she said, "Ran and I will take pictures of birds, while Yuri and Saiyako will think of the plants. We'll do the animals all together. We'll meet back at the tables."

The idea seemed good to the others because they split in two groups and went in opposite directions. They had walked only for a few minutes when Sonoko stopped. Ran looked at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Yuri and Saiyako are gone?" Sonoko asked. Ran turned around: there was nobody behind them.

"Yes.." she said, "They have gone to find the plants' samples and we should be working, too. Where can we find a... a common quail?"

Sonoko wasn't even listening: she looked around herself. At the end, Ran turned to her.

"Sonoko, what are you doing?" she asked with slight irritation.

"Wondering where Kazama-kun has gone." she replied.

"What?"

"Well, he went to the left. We went straight and then turned to the left." Sonoko rambled on, "Where is he?"

Ran held her head with her hand. She had to expect it from her...

"Sonoko, only because he went to the left, it doesn't mean we'll see him! He could be anywhere! Now, please, let's..."

She froze, not finishing her sentence; she had heard a noise, coming from above her. Sonoko grabbed her arm in alarm. They looked up rather slowly; the sun was blinding them, so they put a hand over their eyes to shield them from the sun rays.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared and it leaped down from a low branch of a tree. The two girls slapped their hands on their mouths as a muffled shout came out and their eyes went wide. They calmed down only when they recognised who was in front of them.

Ryu stuffed the camera in his jacket pocket and put a snapshot and something else in another pocket. He turned around only when he heard a sound behind him and noticed Ran and Sonoko.

"Hello." he said, taking a leaf of his jacket. Seeing the look on their faces, he arched an eyebrow, "Did I startle you?"

The girls merely nodded.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do it." he said, smiling apologetically. The girls blushed.

"Kazama-san, what were you doing on that tree?" Ran asked, after a while.

"Oh, nothing." he replied nonchalantly, "There's a blue jay's nest on this tree: I found a feather and I also managed to take a snap of the bird." Noticing the girls' awed stare, he

shrugged slightly, "Well, that's what they asked us to do, right?"

Sonoko spoke up.

"Kazama-kun, can you help us?" she asked, "We have to find birds, too."

Ryu sensed danger, but, nevertheless, he nodded.

"What do you have to find?" he asked.

Sonoko ripped the list out of Ran's hands.

"Ehm.. common quail, crow and..." she read quickly.

"Hey, calm down." Ryu said, holding his hands up, "You can't find those birds in this area."

"Why not?" she asked.

"The birds you're looking for make nests in well-shadowed trees." he explained, "Not in sun bathed areas like this one."

"Are you sure?" Ran asked.

"It was written on the book." he said.

After this statement, the two girls couldn't retort.

"Well, see you later." Ryu said and walked away, secretly glad that he didn't have to spend other time with Suzuki.

'I don't think my nerves would last..' he thought, smirking to himself. He checked out his part of list and walked on.

Ran and Sonoko looked at the boy go away. Sonoko had a defeated look but Ran knew that it wouldn't have lasted long: she would try again very soon.

"Come on, we've got to do this project." she said and dragged her friend away.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shiho and Rei were walking rather silently along a path that was shadowed by the trees' large branches. They had been working quickly and methodically and had nearly collected all the samples they needed.

"We've nearly finished." Rei remarked as they looked at the ground, searching for a particular plant, "What's the time?"

"It's a quarter past eleven." Shiho replied, looking at her watch. A smile appeared on her friend's face as she saw it.

"You're still wearing the watch you used to wear as Ai?" Rei asked.

"Yes. It's a good one and has many special characteristics." Shiho said, "There aren't many watches like this around."

"Of course. It's a -made in Agase- product. Unique and only."

A smile flickered on Shiho's face, hearing this sentence.

"By the way, there's a thing I wanted to ask you?" Rei said, after a while.

"Sure." Shiho replied, "Tell me."

"What did you do the other day? When that girl came.. remember?"

"Why?"

"You disappeared for a while." Shiho looked at her in silence. "I was just curious. You don't have to tell me if you don't want."

"No, don't worry." Shiho said, smiling, "I was just thinking how to tell you. Well..."

FLASHBACK

Shiho and Rei were going to the school's library.

They always went there when Shinichi and Ryu had football practice: they spent every Tuesday and Thursday in the library waiting till they finished only because the boys didn't want them to go home alone. Talk about being overprotective...

Anyway, the girls were walking along the corridor to the library when they noticed a sign. Rei read it and groaned slightly.

"Great.." she said, "The library's closed."

"Where will we go now?" Shiho asked, as they walked to the main entrance.

"I don't know. We could stay.. let's see, either in our classroom.."

"There are the other students there."

"...or by the soccer field."

"Last time we did that, half of the players looked at _us _rather than playing."

"Ehm.. right. Then where?"

The girls looked at each other and walked on, hoping to find a place to stay rather than walking outside in such a cold weather. They were going to go to the soccer field when the heard someone calling.

"Ikeda-san!"

Rei turned around and saw a girl of their class approaching them.

"Yes?" she asked, as the girl came closer, "Do you need something?"

"Well, Ikeda-san, I was wondering if you could help me.." the girl stuttered.

"Help you? How?"

"You are very good in Maths, right?"

"Yes."

"I have a few problems with the last things that have been explained. Do you mind..?"

Rei smiled.

"No, don't worry." she said, "I'll explain you what you don't know."

"Thanks." the girls replied, gratefully "Come with me, I'm in a classroom at the ground floor with other friends."

"Yes, just wait a minute, please." Rei said and turned to Shiho,"Do you mind, Shiho? I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Sure, don't worry." the blonde replied, "I'll wait nearby."

"Ok." Rei said with a smile, "See you later."

And she left with the other girl.

'Let's go to the soccer field, then..' Shiho thought, walking alone. She looked around: many students were taking part in their clubs' activities or were busy with their sport's teams. For a moment, Shiho wondered if she would have joined a club if she had had a normal childhood and school life. She wondered if she would have still been an introvert, silent person if she had had a normal life.

'Coming to think of it, I can't even immagine myself with a different character..' she thought sarcastically.

She arrived to the soccer field and looked at the players. She saw Ryu who was busy doing some penalty kicks but she didn't see Shinichi. She looked around and finally saw him at the water fountains a few meters away from her. He hadn't noticed her and she approached him silently.

"Tired already?" she asked.

Shinichi turned around abruptly: he had been drinking and water dribbled down his chin.

"Shiho!" he exclaimed, drying himself, "What you're doing here? And where's Rei?"

"A question at the time..." she remarked. Shinichi smirked.

"All right." he said, "I'm here, not because I'm tired, but because I was thirsty after having shot twenty penalty kicks." He grinned proudly, "All perfect scores."

"I didn't doubt it." Shiho said sarcastically, "Anyway, I'm here because the library's closed and Rei's explaining Maths to some girls of our class."

"Where are you going to stay till we finish?"

"I don't know: we were looking around."

"Well, you could stay here... no, better not. Kojima-san nearly killed me and Ryu because you two had _distracted_ half the team last time."

"Why did he get mad with you? You didn't do anything."

Shinichi stared at her.

"We know you. You know us." he stated, "That's enough for him."

"I see."

They stayed in silence for a while. Shiho glanced at Shinichi: he was wearing white shorts, a vertically striped shirt and the typical soccer shoes.

"What's up?" he asked, looking at her. He had felt her stare.

"Just wondering."

"About?"

"Nonsense."

Shinichi stared at her.

"_You_, Shiho Miyano, _never _think of nonsense." he remarked, "It's impossible."

"Why not?"

"It's just not... in your style."

Shiho looked at him.

"Can I ask you a thing?"

"Sure." he replied.

"Can you see me with a different character?"

"Huh?"

"I'm asking if you can immagine me with a character different from my own."

"You mean different from your usual self?"

"_Yes_. God, you can bring to exasperation, you know?"

Ignoring her comment, Shinichi looked at her thoughtfully.

"You want the truth?" he asked, after a while.

"Yes."

"Well, no."

"Come again?"

"No, I can't even immagine you with a different character."

"Oh, I see." she said.

They stayed in silence for a while.

"Why not?"

"I don't know. It's just that you are.. _you_."

"Oh thank you, I didn't know that."

"No, don't misunderstand! It's just that... you've changed, Shiho."

"Changed?"

"Yes."

"Sorry but I don't understand."

"We've met more or less ten- eleven months ago, right?"

"Right."

"Ever since we've met, you have always been silent, cool and introvert. And this has gone on till... let's see, a few weeks after the bus jack accident."

"I know that."

"Let me finish.. after that, you opened up a bit. Not too much but you opened up. You began to change even more after Rei and Ryu showed up five months ago. Am I right?"

"Yes."

"I'm just saying that in these last months, you've opened up. You're always the same but your character is slowly changing. That's why I can't see you with a totally different character. Do you understand what I mean?"

"It's a rather cryptic reasoning but.. yes. I think I've understood."

Shinichi looked at her curiously.

"Why did you want to know, anyway?" he asked.

"Nothing." she replied vaguely, ""It just came to my mind."

"Just came to your mind... like that?"

"Yes."

Shinichi stared at her: Shiho felt his detective eyes bore through her as though she was a piece of glass. She managed to hide a blush and met his gaze coolly. Shinichi shook his head and raised his hands.

"One thing hasn't still changed." he remarked with a hint of annoyance, "I still need a crystal ball to figure out what you're thinking."

"What about your great deductive abilities?" she asked with a spark of amusement in her eyes.

"That's the point: I'm only a detective. To know what goes through to your mind, one has to be a mind reader."

Shiho couldn't help but smile slightly. Shinichi grinned: he loved her smile.

Suddenly, they heard Kojima shout.

"Kudo, how long is your break lasting?" He noticed Shiho next to him. "Stop flirting and get back to practice!"

Shinichi and Shiho looked at each other and blushed.

"See you later." she said turning around to leave.

"Yes." he mumbled and walked to the field. Shiho could clearly hear him mutter as she walked away.

"Flirting? ... That idiot..."

She smiled to herself and walked away.

END FLASHBACK

Rei was stifling a laugh as Shiho finished.

"Kojima-san shouted that?" she asked.

"Yes." Shiho said, "It was quite an embarrassing situation."

"I'd say... and it would have also been dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Shiho looked at Rei with confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Was someone around?" she asked, instead of replying.

"No.. at least, I don't think so."

"Immagine what would have happened if one of yours or Shinichi's.. ehm.. admirers had heard Kojima-san." Rei remarked, "You would have died on the spot."

"Probably."

The two girls looked at each and laughed.

"By the way, Shiho." Rei said, after a while, "Shinichi's right: you have changed. When we first met, it was rare to see you smile or laugh."

"Yes."

"You're probably more relaxed now and... happy."

Shiho looked at Rei, who just nodded. She was right.

"So, let's back to work." she said, after a while, "It would be annoying to hear Shinichi and Ryu's complaints."

"Too true." Rei remarked with a smirk.

The two girls walked on. After twenty minutes, they only had to find a chestnut tree to finish their work.

Suddenly, a shout shattered the silence.

"What was _that_?" Rei said, looking around.

"It came from there." Shiho remarked, pointing to their right.

They looked at each other and rushed to see what was happening. When they arrived to the point of commotion, the girls saw a small crowd gathered around a large chestnut tree. The two girls approached the crowd and looked up at the tree: a surprised expression appeared on their faces.

A girl was dangling from a rather high branch of the tree: her backpack had got hooked to the branch, so that she couldn't move, unless someone untangled her. How she got there was beyond Rei and Shiho's comprehension but they saw that she was utterly terrified.

"YUMI, STAY STILL!" a boy hollered to the girl, "We'll try to get you down!"

"Oh, sure.." Rei muttered sarcastically, "If you find a ladder in this forest.."

"How did she get there?" Shiho wondered.

"I don't know but we have to get her down quickly. See, there's a fallen branch down there: she must having have been standing on it and when it broke, she fell and instinctively hang to the one under it."

"Actually, her bag did."

"Yes, but that's going to break too."

They approached a girl standing under the tree.

"Listen, why did she go up there?" Rei asked.

"What?" the girl turned around, clearly surprised to see Rei _talking _to her.

"Why did she go up there?" Rei repeated.

"We needed a chestnut leaf. So, someone had to climb the tree: Yumi was the lightest so she went up but the branch broke suddenly."

"Couldn't you take a leaf from the ground?" Rei asked with astonishment. The girl didn't answer and Rei raised an eyebrow. "I'll take it as a no. Anyway, we've got to help your friend quickly. She has chosen the tree's weakest branches: one has fallen already and the other is willing to do the same."

A fearful look appeared on the girl's face.

'If only Ryu was here...' Rei thought.

_"Rei?"_

The girl nearly jumped. She turned around and saw Ryu standing next to her.

"What the...?" she asked staring at him, "Are you a mind reader or what?"

"What?" he remarked in confusion.

"No, it's just that.." she started to say. She stopped when she saw him touch his glasses: she understood right away how he had arrived. "No, nothing."

"What's going on?"

Rei quickly told him what was happening and he agreed with her when she said that they had to be fast.

"We can't do much, though." she remarked.

"Wait till Shinichi comes." Ryu said, surprising her.

"How do you know ...? "

"Three.. two.. one..."

Shinichi appeared by Shiho's side. He quickly stuffed what seemed to be like Conan's glasses back into his jacket pocket.

"You brought them with you?" Shiho asked.

"Yes." he said simply, "Always along with the bow-tie."

"Why am I not surprised.." Rei remarked, "Anyway, what do you have on your mind Ryu?"

"Ok." he said and quickly told them what they had to do.

All the students were worrying about the girl. Suddenly, they noticed Shinichi, Ryu, Rei and Shiho getting under the tree. It was strange but everything got silent.

Ryu approached a boy next to him.

"Listen what's her name?" he asked.

"Yumi." the boy replied, "Yumi Makai."

"Thanks." Ryu replied. He put his backpack on the ground, where Shinichi and Rei had already put there ones and looked up.

"Makai!" he called, "Keep still! We'll get you down."

"Hey, wait." the boy said, "We have to wait for the teachers. What if..?"

"What if she gets hurt?" Ryu remarked cutting through his sentence, "Well, if we don't do something quickly, she _will _get hurt. That branch won't hold for long."

The boy didn't say anything.

"So, can we help her?" Shinichi asked.

"Ok." he said. He turned around to the crowd, "Move back! We'll only block them if we stay here. MOVE BACK! "

The whole crowd stepped back, giving Ryu, Shinichi, Rei and Shiho wide space. They all looked at them with some trepidation. The four looked at each other and nodded.

Ryu looked up and, giving his back to the trunk, positioned himself under a branch close to where Makai was. He looked at Rei.

"I think here." he said.

The girl nodded and took off her jacket: she was wearing a simple black turtleneck over her jeans. Quite a few boys blushed looking at her figure. Shinichi, on the other hand, smirked noticing the small frown that had flickered on Ryu's face for a few moments.

"What are you going to do?" a boy asked Shinichi.

"The branch won't hold long." he explained, "Ryu will help Rei get to the closer one and then, you'll see."

"What do you mean -_help her get to the closer one?_ There aren't...?

He stopped abruptly when he saw Ikeda run. She was running and when she was only a few feet away from Kazama, she leaped forward. He was ready: her right foot was in his hands. Their eyes met as if it was a silent signal they told each other that they were ready. A second later, he heaved Rei up and she practically flew up to a branch. She reached out with her hands and grabbed it: now, she was hanging from the branch. Not looking down, Rei began to swing back and forth and then, with one last determined effort, she did a 180 degree back flip, landing with her feet steadily on the branch.

A few girls had shrieked but most of the students' mouths were hanging open.

Ryu and Shiho smiled while Shinichi let out an enthusiastic whoop. Rei smiled despite herself but then she immediately looked at Makai, who was only a few inches below her. The girl was pale and looked terrified.

"Makai-san, we'll get you down." she said.

"How?" the girl asked, fearfully, "Will you pull me up?"

"No, you see the tree's branches on this side are particularly weak. If I pull you up, we'll both risk to fall."

"So, what will you do?"

"If you look down, you'll see my friends Ryu and Shinichi. So, once I'll unhook your bag, you will fall down and they'll catch you."

"What?"

"Don't worry! You just have to relax: while you fall, don't be stiff. Have you understood?"

"Yes."

Rei looked down.

"Ready, down there?" she shouted.

"Yes." was the reply of the two boys.

"Ok." she said, reaching for the bag. "GO!"

A small shout came out Makai's mouth as she felt herself falling down. She remembered what Ikeda had told and stayed supple. She felt herself falling and she closed her eyes, waiting for impact with ground; instead, her fall was stopped suddenly and harmlessly. She opened her eyes and found herself looking at the faces of Kazama and Kudo.

"Hello." Ryu said with a smile.

"Welcome back down." Shinichi remarked with a small smile as they let her down.

Makai blushed, not only for the embarrassing situation she had gone through but mostly because the two most popular boys of the school had just helped her. Once, she was on her feet, her friends approached her.

"Yumi! Are you all right?"

"We were so worried!"

The chatter died away when Shiho approached them.

"Makai, show me your arm." she said.

"What?" Yumi asked in confusion.

"Your right arm."

Only then, Yumi noticed that she had a cut along her arm: she probably got it when she fell the first time. She looked at Miyano wanting to ask how she noticed it but her cool, serious face made her change her mind. She stretched out her arm, just as she had told her.

Shiho drew out of her jacket pocket a small bottle spray.

"This is a bottle of hydrogenate oxide." she said, foreseeing Makai's question, "It may hurt a bit."

She sprayed on the small wound and Yumi winced. Shiho then took out a roll of bandage and wrapped it around her arm.

"Ehm.. Miyano-san?" Yumi asked tentatively, "Why did you bring these with you?"

Shiho looked at her.

"Just in case." she replied vaguely, leaving the girl even more confused. Shiho turned around just in time to see Rei jump down from the tree and Ryu catch her. She smirked seeing the murderous stares on the face of many girls and boys as they saw Ryu and Rei.

"They're risking.." Shinichi commented, behind her. Shiho turned around and saw that he was smirking too.

"Have you finished with your list?" she asked as she put the bottle and roll back into her bag.

"Yes. Just a few minutes ago." he replied, picking his backpack, "What about you?"

"Yes." Rei said, joining the conversation. She put on her jacket and took her backpack. "I've just taken the last thing we needed: a chestnut's leaf. Oh, by the way..."

She walked towards Makai and handed her one of the leaves she had.

"I think this is yours." she said, "But next time, find the samples in a easier way."

"Yes. Thanks." the girl replied.

Rei walked back to her friends. It seemed that Ryu had finished too: so, they only had to write the report. As soon as they were ready, the four walked away.

Shinichi, Shiho, Rei and Ryu hadn't noticed the effect they had had on the students that were there. Saying that they were astonished was an understatement but there was more..

Everyone had always considered the four as a group of brilliant, polite and rather secretive students. They seemed to be on a higher level than them and many had felt jealous. But now, seeing how they helped the girl in danger, they only felt one thing.

Admiration.

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Ran and Sonoko came out of the forest and headed to the benches where they had to meet Yuri and Saiyako. They had found only two of the four birds they had on their list and they hoped that the other two girls had had more luck with the plant samples. Anyway, they were walking to the benches and noticed that no one was around.

'Everyone must still be in the forest..' Ran thought.

The two girls walked on and saw the teachers sitting at a bench, talking to each other. Then, they noticed with surprise that Shinichi, Kazama, Ikeda and Miyano were sitting at a bench too. They didn't notice them: they were busy writing, flipping through the text book's pages and glueing the photos.

"It's impossible!" Sonoko remarked, "They can't have found everything so soon."

"Must be." Ran said, "Otherwise, they wouldn't be here."

They turned around when they heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Yuri and Saiyako ran towards them.

"Have you fou...?" Ran started to ask but was abruptly stopped.

"Did you see what they had done before?" Yuri exclaimed.

"Who?" Sonoko asked.

"Kudo, Kazama, Ikeda and Miyano." Saiyako said, "They saved a girl of class 2-B who was blocked on a tree."

"Really?" she said; Ran's interest increased, too, "Tell me everything."

The two girls described how the four had helped the girl and Ran and Sonoko's mouth dropped open.

"Think how lucky that girl was." Yuri said with a sigh, "Falling in the arms of Kudo and Kazama."

Saiyako and Sonoko had dreamy expressions too while Ran shook her head in exasperation.

"However, have you found all the thing s on the list?" she asked.

"Well, yes and no." Yuri said, snapping out her thoughts, "A few things are missing."

"We'd better find them. It's already one o'clock."

"What about having lunch?" Saiyako suggested, "We could find things more easily if we have fresh energy."

Ran was about to say that they would have only wasted time but she stopped when she saw Shinichi, Kazama, Ikeda and Miyano getting up, gathering their things and putting them away in the backpacks. The four surprised girls stood there while they walked to the teacher and handed out their report. Ran could see that the teachers were stunned too: they had been incredibly fast. Shinichi said something to the teachers and after having talked with them, the four left.

They had hardly disappeared from sight that Sonoko had dashed to the teachers. Ran, Yuri and Saiyako followed her suite.

"Mrs Atsushi." she said, stopping in front of the table, "Mr. Takashi."

The two teachers looked up. Mrs Atsushi closed what she was reading.

"Oh, Suzuki." the woman said, "And there are also Mouri, Kojima and Kano."

"Have you finished your work?" The man asked staring at them.

"No, sir." Yuri said, "We thought that we could have lunch and then go on with the project."

"Hmm, yes." Takashi stated. Then turning to his colleague, "I suppose all the students will do the same."

"Yes." Atsushi said, "Well, I was sure of that. The only thing I didn't expect was that a group would hand out the report so soon. Even though, knowing who they are, it was predictable."

"Kudo and the new ones have already handed it out?" Sonoko asked, as though she didn't know. Ran hid a smile.

"Yes." Takashi replied, "Kudo, Kazama, Ikeda and Miyano. They have written an excellent report: detailed and concise, with good photos and samples. I suppose they'll get a good mark, right?"

"I have only read it quickly but yes." the woman said, "I'm sure that the grade will be high."

"Where do you think they have gone?" Saiyako asked her friends, "They are free now."

Suddenly, the two teachers got up as they saw other students coming out of the forest.

"It seems that we were right." Takashi said, "It's break time."

Ran, Sonoko, Yuri and Saiyako chose a table nearby and sat down, taking out their lunch boxes.

"Where do you think they have gone?" Sonoko wondered.

"Who knows?" Yuri remarked, "Maybe, if we look aro...?"

"No." Ran said firmly, "We have to finish our project."

Seeing the glint in her eyes, the other girls nodded. Ran could be intimidating at times: they all knew her karate skills..

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It was a quarter to two, Ryu, Rei, Shiho and Shinichi were walking on a path that coasted the forest. The weather was cool but not cold, making the walk quite enjoyable.

"Well, what will we do till six o'clock?" Ryu asked, "I'm open to any suggestion."

"There's an open spot not far from here." Shinichi said, "There's a good view from there."

"You're right." Rei said, "I went there a couple of times when I was small."

"Me too. You can see Mount Fuji very well from there."

Ryu looked up.

"Really? I'll finally get to see it then."

Shiho looked at him.

"You have never seen Mount Fuji before?" she asked.

"No." he replied, "In photograph and in television sometimes but never with my eyes."

"You're joking." Shinichi said, not believing him.

"I'm not lying. Really."

"You must be the only Japanese that has never seen it's symbol mountain." Rei stated.

"Hey, it's not my fault if I've lived in Kyushu the whole time before moving to USA!"

"Kyushu?" Shinichi asked, "Your Dad's from there?"

"Yes." Ryu replied, "He was from Kyushu."

"You know there's something I've always wanted to ask you." Rei said, turning to him, "Your mother's French, right?"

"Yes."

"How did she meet your father? There's quite a way between France and Japan."

"Oh, they met in France: _dans la Ville Lumière_." he replied, showing a perfect French accent, "My mother was from Paris and she was studying Music there. My father had won a scholarship to study abroad and he chose Paris. They met... at a party, I think. Anyway, it was love at first sight: after having finished their studies, they married and moved back to Kyushu. The rest is history." A smile appeared on Ryu's face as he thought of his parents: the memories didn't hurt him like before anymore. "By the way, let's stop talking about me. What about you?" He looked at the others.

"There's not much to say." Shinichi said with a shrug, "My parents are both from Tokyo. They met here and got married."

"I don't have much to say either." Shiho said, "One-chan told me that my father was from Yokohama while my mother was from London or down there."

"Well, my father was from Okinawa and my mother was from Hokkaido." Rei remarked, "They met at work but, to tell the truth, I never figured out why they moved to Tokyo."

"We're pretty mixed up." Ryu commented, "A bit from the North, the Center and the South of Japan. Not to mention Europe."

They had been walking the whole time and now, they arrived at a small natural terrace that was neatly fenced with small logs. However, the thing that immediately caught their attention was the view.

It was outstanding.

Mount Fuji's top was covered by snow and a light fog hid it. Looking down, they could see Tokyo.

"It's quite a sight." Ryu stated.

The others just nodded. They stayed in silence, admiring the landscape.

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"We could cut through the forest, what do you think?"

"Yes. It's better than doing the whole way round."

Ryu and Rei were walking together through a path of the forest.

They had gone to get something to drink at a vending machine they had seen a few miles away from the where they had been relaxing, watching the landscape. Shinichi and Shiho had decided to wait there.

Ryu took out a compass from his pocket and looked around.

"We should go straight." he said and the girl nodded.

They walked in silence for a while.

"Ryu?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." he said with a smile, "No need to ask."

"Have you ever thought of what you will do.. after?"

"After?"

"Yes, after the Organisation falls."

"_If _it falls.."

"It will fall. Don't be so pessimistic."

"I don't know... with that type of people, you never know."

"But we've got all the evidence to bring them down."

"Yes, I hope it will be enough."

They fell silent.

"Anyway, yes." Ryu said, after a bit.

"Huh?"

"Yes, I've thought of what I could do after."

"Really?" Rei asked curiously, "What would you do then?"

"Hey, you asked me only if I _thought _of it, not if I had a concrete idea."

"So, you don't know."

"I haven't got a clue. What about you?"

"I don't know." Rei said with a sigh, "It's strange: the only thing I had in my mind was to find my parents' murderers and put them in jail. I even studied computer science for that! But I realised that I never really thought of my future till..."

"Till a few days ago." Ryu finished, "When you sent the Organisation's leaders' names to Matt."

"How do you know?"

"I realised the same thing that day too. I practically spent the last five years doing the amount of work a normal person would have done in ten years only to bring the Organisation down. And now that it might happen, I'm.."

"..scared."

Ryu stopped and looked at Rei who smiled slightly.

"Yes." he said slowly, "Scared to have done things too fast."

"Only to get revenge, after all. Because that's what we want: revenge for our pasts."

An odd silence fell between them as they walked on again: they were both thinking. Suddenly, they heard a noise behind them, followed by a few whispers. Rei and Ryu looked at each with a smirk.

"It seems that we're followed." she said.

"We had to know it." Ryu remarked, "It's half past three: someone else must have handed out that report by now."

"So, we'll just ignore them?"

"Exactly."

"By the way.. Ryu?"

"Huh?"

"Was that a frown on your face a few hours ago?"

"When?"

"You know when.."

"Ehm.. could be.." he said vaguely. Rei smirked.

"Don't tell me that you're jealous?" she teased.

Ryu didn't say anything but just ran his fingers through his hair; it was a clear sign that he was embarrassed. Rei didn't give up: she stepped in front causing him to stop abruptly. Their faces were a mere inches apart. She smiled as she saw a thin blush on his face.

"Well?" she asked.

"All right. I'm not jealous... maybe annoyed." he said, "Why? You never feel like that?"

"Rarely. It's quite to amusing to see girls swarming around you. For the look on your face, I mean."

"Ha, ha. Very funny."

"It's only that you're too soft with girls."

"Is that a mistake?"

"No but some could take advantage on you."

Ryu looked at her.

"That sounds wrong in so many ways.." he muttered but Rei heard him.

"RYU!" she exclaimed, smacking him on the head.

"Ouch! I was joking! Nothing else." he replied, nursing his head, "That hurt, you know."

"Poor thing.." was her ironic reply. They walked for another bit in silence.

"So, you think I should be more... resolute?" Ryu said after a while.

"What?" Rei asked in confusion.

"You just said that I was too soft with girls, right?"

"Yes."

"So if I did something to show that I don't have any interest on them, they'd leave me alone, right?"

"Right." she said, not having a clue of where he was coming to, "What do you have in your mind? You worry me when you start like this.."

She didn't get a reply so she just looked at him and shrugged slightly. They stayed in silence for another few minutes.

"Rei?" Ryu asked softly.

"Yes?" she said, looking up.

He seemed to hesitate for a minute but then he leaned down and kissed her on the lips. Rei's eyes widened. She clearly heard a gasp from somewhere behind them and she understood what Ryu had been thinking.

She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. When they parted, she stopped him so that their faces were close.

"You're mad." she whispered, even though she was smiling.

"They'll leave me alone from now on." he replied, looking in her eyes and a smile spread on his face too.

"Sure... till they murder me."

"I'll be there to stop them."

If possible, Rei's smile became brighter, making Ryu's heart skip a beat. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him softly on the lips. They heard another gasp behind them and also the rustling of leaves. The end of their mouths twitched as they parted.

Without saying a word, they walked on.

"That was so mean," Rei said after a while.

"I know, but I'm a mean person," he insisted.

"No you're not," she said back.

"Right, sorry, you're the mean one,' he said.

"Oh, shut up," she smacked his head again.

"Ouch! Hey, stop it!" he said, "This is becoming a habit.."

Rei smirked at his remark.

-

Shinichi and Shiho stood under the shade of a large tree, leaning on the trunk.

Ryu and Rei had left ten minutes ago to go and get something to drink and they had decided to wait there. They just stood in silence. Shiho casually looked up and a small smile appeared on her face.

"What's so funny?"

She turned to her side and saw that Shinichi was staring at her.

"Come again?" she said.

"Why were you smiling?"

"I just remembered something."

"Care to tell me?"

"This is a Japanese red pine." she said, glancing at the tree.

"So?" he asked. The puzzled look on her face made her smirk.

"Memory's short, detective.." she said sarcastically. Shinichi frowned. "Remember when we went for mushrooms with the Detective Boys and Agase?"

"Oh, yes. A hunter had been murdered.."

"Actually, Shinichi, there's _always _a murder when you are around." The boy rolled his eyes. "Anyway, yes. I was referring to that."

"What about it?"

"I just remembered something Mitsuhiko asked me."

"What?"

"Summarizing, he asked if there was something between me and you.. well, Ai and Conan."

"How did you reply?"

Shiho looked at him sideways, in the same way she did when she was Ai and smiled slightly. Shinichi's heartbeats rose.

"I said that we were only friends and that there wasn't any romance between us." she replied calmly, "I couldn't let a seven year olds hopes down, could I?"

As an answer, Shinichi laughed. Shiho looked at him with astonishment.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Mitsuhiko talked with me that day too." he said, "He had a great crush on you, you know?"

"What did he tell you?"

"He admired your way of speaking, your intelligence and your way of being. You were more mature than him and I think he kind of idolised you."

"A bit like Ayumi did with you."

"I think so."

Shiho suddenly had the flash of Conan putting his hands on Mitsuhiko's shoulders and telling him something seriously: she remembered it because she had turned around and had seen them. She looked at Shinichi and a smirk appeared on her face.

"What did you tell him?" she asked nonchalantly.

"What?" he asked.

"What did you tell Mitsuhiko? I know you did: I saw you."

"Ehm.. I told him that for he should have forgotten those thoughts and.. you."

"Why?"

"Why? He's a kid!"

"So?" she asked and stifled a laugh seeing his face, "He's so sweet."

"You're joking, right?" he asked.

"Why? Are you jealous?"

Shinichi blushed, mumbling incoherently under his breath. Shiho smirked again.

"You know, you haven't changed either." she said, "You still blush for nothing."

Shinichi looked resented but a few minutes later, a cool smirk appeared on his face.

"You think so?" he said slyly. Shiho turned to him with confusion and nearly jumped when she found his face a few inches from her own.

"So?" he whispered.

Shiho, however, managed to keep her usual calm expression, although her heart was beating at full speed. She faced him with a haughty smile.

"So... nothing." she said softly.

"You'll never cease to amaze me.." he muttered, "Will I _ever _catch you off guard?"

"You already have."

"What?"

"Don't you remember?"

Shinichi looked at her. Then he remembered.

"You mean.. my confession under the tree, on that rainy night?" he asked, "Well, I nearly forgot that you got startled. I was nervous myself."

"Didn't I know.."

They looked at each other and smiled. Just then, Ryu and Rei showed up: the boy tossed a can of lemonade to both.

"It took you quite a bit." Shiho stated.

Ryu and Rei looked at each other.

"We just wanted to walk." Rei said, standing next to Shiho.

"Exactly." Ryu added, standing by Shinichi's side.

"All right." Shinichi said. However, he noticed something and a smirk appeared on his face.

"Ehm, Ryu?" he said quietly, so that the the other boy could be the only one to hear him.

"What?" he replied in the same tone.

"So, how are things between you and Rei?"

"Fine." Ryu replied and he glanced at his friend, "Why?"

"Well, I already knew that answer." Shinichi said, his eyes sparkling with mirth, "I have a different question then: when did Rei start wearing lipstick?"

"What?"

"No, don't worry I haven't been checking your girlfriend out." the detective said with a shrug, "It's just, well... you've got a light shade of pink on your lips and I hope to God you didn't put it there purposely."

Ryu choked on the sip of coke he had been drinking and furiously wiped his mouth. Shinichi laughed loudly and the girls looked at the two as though they had gone mad.

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The second they arrived at the spot where the buses were at six o'clock, whispers followed them. Sonoko shot Rei a look that made her glad looks couldn't kill and many boys shot death glares to Ryu. Noticing this, Shinichi and Shiho looked at Ryu and Rei with a puzzled expression.

"What's going on?" the blonde asked the other girl.

"Yeah, they seem ready to kill you." Shinichi said, turning to the other boy.

"Well..." Rei started and then stopped. She leaned towards Shiho and whispered in her ear telling what had happened. The blonde looked both amused and surprised. On the other hand, Ryu turned to Shinichi.

"They saw us.." he whispered and touched his lips. Shinichi stifled a laugh.

"All right." Mr Takashi said, "We're all here: everyone get inside the bus!"

The students made a line and got inside the buses. Ryu and Rei got to sit next to each other while Shinichi and Shiho sat behind them. This seemed to increase the whispers.

-

As the bus was getting back to Tokyo, it was nearly dark.

Shinichi was looking out of the window when he felt something touch his shoulder lightly. He turned to his left and saw Shiho fast asleep. A tender smile appeared on his face: being careful not to wake her up, he took his jacket, that he had taken off as soon as he got in the bus, and draped it over her.

Shinichi had the sudden flash of a little seven year old with reddish-blonde hair that fell asleep on his shoulder in a cinema months ago. He gazed down at her, pushing away a strand of hair that covered her face and thought that she was really beautiful. He slowly turned back to the window without realising that many people had been watching him. The whispers burst out again.

Ran had seen him too and her heart lurched.

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Shinichi, Shiho, Ryu and Rei got back home with Agase, who picked them up at Teitan High. They told the scientist that the day had been good but none admitted that he was right to force them to go to the trip: they had enjoyed it after all.

Anyway, they had hardly time to change their selves and get dinner ready, that the phone began to ring madly. The four were all in the kitchen.

"Who ...? " Ryu started to say but then he stopped abruptly and looked at the others, "Matt!"

In less than a flash, they were all by the phone table. Ryu lifted the receiver slowly and waited for the other one in line to speak.

_"Don't worry down there. It's just me."_

"Hi, Ford." Ryu said, smiling, "It's great to hear you."

_"Good to hear you too, Ellery. How are the others doing?"_

"Ask them yourself.."

Ryu turned on the speaker phone.

"Ok, go ahead." he said.

_"Hello, everyone." _Matt said, _"How are you doing?"_

"Hi, Ford." Shinichi and the girls said, "We're fine."

"What about you?" Rei asked.

_"Well, I'm fine: just dead sleepy and loaded with work for the next weeks."_

"Why?" Ryu asked, "Don't tell me that...?"

_"Yeah, we raided the Organisation's headquarter: it took us the whole night."_

"Really?" Shinichi asked with some trepidation, "What did you find?"

_"Who knows? We have finished to collect all the material this morning at five o'clock. I've started to read a few things with some other agents: I didn't even go go to sleep."_

"Do you need any help?" Rei asked, "We could do something, too."

_"Well, you've already done a lot, Christie. All of you, have done very much. Let us deal with this work for now."_

"Us?" Shiho asked

_"Oh, right: I didn't tell you this. Well, at the beginning, the only ones that knew about MYSTERY, besides us, were my Dad and his squad. But after having read the material you guys have sent and heard a few of the double-crossers, we realised that we needed more men."_

"So, there are other people involved?" Ryu remarked.

_"Yes but, don't worry. Dad and I have chosen only people that we know are trustworthy."_

"Who are they?" Rei asked with curiosity, "Do we know them?"

_"I think so. Let's see... there are a few friends of my father: they're all inspectors with experience and he knows them since he has joined FBI. Dad told them about the plan and they agreed right away: you know, some of the murdered agents were in their squads.. Speaking of the squads, there are four of them involved in the plan by now."_

"Wait.. that means... Matt, there are eighty agents working for MYSTERY?" Ryu asked in awe.

_"Yes. They are our task men: you should have seen them last night. They raided the place with an accuracy I've rarely seen."_

"There aren't any victims, I hope." Rei asked.

_"No, thanks God, no. There are some injured though: we were eighty or more but there were lots more of them and they didn't want to surrender so easily. There was a frontal encounter: there are many injured and a few of them have died."_

"Who?" Shiho asked, "Anyone important?"

_"If you mean any high member, no. At least, not that I know. By the way, Ellery, you were right: there were mainly scientists there. I don't know what the other people were doing there but I think we caught them by surprise. They didn't expect an attack."_

"Ford, what did you find exactly?" Ryu asked.

_"Plenty of stuff. I told you: it will take us weeks to work out everything. We took computers, archives, notes and we also have to hear all the kidnapped scientists and the criminals."_

"Work out? Ford, you don't know even how to start a program!" Rei said, "How are you going to that work?"

_"Ha, Ha. Very funny, Christie." _an annoyed Matt replied, making the four grin, _"I've got a couple of helpers with me. You know them."_

"Really? Who are they?"

_"Christine Evans and Lucas Daimon."_

"Chris and Lucas are working with you?"

_"Yes, they're in the team as well: I couldn't let them out. They're my guardian angels when it comes to computers."_

"Oh, sure, I didn't doubt it."

As Matt scoffed at Rei's comment, Shinichi turned to Ryu.

"Who are these two?" he asked.

"They're two agents too." the boy replied, "They're an year elder than us, like Matt, and they're good friends. Chris and Lucas followed computer science with Rei."

"So, they're trustworthy?" Shiho said.

"Yes." Ryu replied. Just then, he realised something.

"Ford?"

_"What?"_

"Chris, Lucas and all the other people involved in the plan know everything of MYSTERY, right?"

_"Yeah."_

"Do they also know that I'm not a traitor and that Re.. Christie's alive?"

_"Yes."_

"And no one retorted?" Rei asked.

_"Dad and I explained them everything of the plan from the beginning: we told them how you two were involved and all the work you've done after Akemi Miyano showed up. They were all very.. touched, you know? They were also surprised to see how much we three did without being noticed: Ellery as an infiltrator, Christie as a decrypter and me, keeping everyone out. Then, I told them how things went wrong after Ellery had been discovered and then cornered. To put it simple, all the people that work at MYSTERY, know that you two are alive and still by our side..."_

"Good." Rei and Ryu said together.

_"Yeah, you should have seen Chris: she nearly bit my head off for having kept this secret. Not that I don't understand her.. She and half of FBI were at your 'funeral'."_

"I can immagine." Rei remarked, "I'll have to apologize when we'll meet again."

"By the way, do they know that we're involved too?" Shinichi asked, "Me and Sh.. Ai, I mean."

_"Yes, I told them that Ellery and Christie are working with other people: you, Ai and Kid."_

"Good." Shiho said.

_"Now.. I already know what your next question will be so I'll answer in advance. We've got a lot of work for the moment and even though your help would be deadly precious, I can't ask you anything. I'm sorry but we won't have contacts for a while."_

"Why?" Rei asked, "You can't keep us out now!"

_"I don't want to keep you out. It's just for your own good. Now that the American headquarter is down, all the members will be in alert. They'll expect another attack and the Japanese headquarter will be reinforced."_

"If not moved.." Ryu commented.

_"Exactly. We have to be quick and careful at the same time. We'll try to get some information from the two leaders we've caught."_

"You caught them?" Shinichi asked, "Already?"

_"We had to: once the headquarter was down, they would have fled away. We have to keep this secret as long as we can."_

"You considered every possibility." Shiho said.

_"Yes."_

"Wait, Ford." Ryu remarked, "You've kept the papers out, I hope."

_"Of course. Who do you think I am? An idiot or what? We've done the whole operation in secret. We have to thank God that four chief Inspectors are involved otherwise it would have been impossible."_

"But it won't be secret for long." Shinichi said, "Considering who the leaders are."

_"Well, we'll hope it will be kept quiet for as much as possible. There isn't much to say. Sorry guys, but I've got to go back to work.."_

"Are you sure we can't do anything?" Ryu asked.

_"Listen, I know that you hate to hear it but you have to be careful. Just wait till I call you."_

"But.." Rei started

_"But nothing." _Matt cut her, _"Listen, you are the ones that risk most: Ellery and Ai, they know you two are alive; Christie and Conan, they could have suspects of you two. You have to be careful. I'm sure you don't want to ruin more than a year and a half's work being impatient, right?"_

"Yes." Ryu said, looking at the others who nodded. Matt was right.

_"Great. I promise I'll show up if I need you. Till then keep your eyes open: Japan will be full of Organisation members from now on."_

"All right, Ford." Ryu said.

"Good work." Rei added.

_"I hope it wasn't sarcastic, Christie."_

"No. Really."

_"Ok. Hope to hear you or see you soon guys. Keep away from trouble."_

"Problems usually chase us." Shinichi stated.

_"Whatever. Bye!"_

"Bye!"

As Ryu put the receiver away, Matt's words slowly sank in.

Now that the American Headquarter was down, all the members would have come to the Japanese one.

And this meant great danger for them..

-

Matt put the phone away and sighed, sinking in his chair.

He knew how Ryu, Rei, Shinichi and Shiho must feel. He had felt the same when Rei and Ryu did all the risky work and he was safe and snug at home. But this time..

They risked a lot: more than anyone else. They knew enough of the Organisation to be silenced more than once. They couldn't make mistakes: Ryu and Rei had narrowly escaped them last time. He didn't want to force their luck this time.

Especially, now that he had that funny feeling..

He didn't tell it to anyone but he had the feeling that something was going to happen. Something bad.

He smirked thinking what Ryu or Rei would have said if they heard him say this: they would just scoff and..

_"Matt?"_

The boy looked up and saw a girl with long brown hair and hazel eyes standing by his door.

"Chris." he said, getting up, "What's up?"

"I've been knocking for a while.." she said, closing the door behind her, "I though you were asleep."

"I'd love to do it but, as you see, I can't." he pointed to the pile of papers on his desk, "By the way, why are you here?"

"Lucas and I are going to start to work out the files, following Rei's programs. I just wanted to tell you."

"Oh, all right."

The girl was going to leave but she stopped at the door and turned around.

"Did you hear them?" she asked, keeping her voice low.

Matt looked up.

"Yes, right now." he said softly, "I told them to be careful."

"They're fine, right?"

"Yes, as long as they keep out of trouble."

Chris smiled.

"Ok, see you later." she said and left. Matt just waved at her.

He walked to the window.

Maybe, he was wrong: it was probably nothing. Why should he be worried?

He shook his head and went to his desk.

'Matt, you're getting paranoid.' he thought as he sat down, 'You got influenced by a random feeling..'

He set to work, forgetting his worries and concentrating on the papers.

If only Matt had known, how right his feeling had been...

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A few weeks had past since Matt's call.

Shinichi, Shiho, Ryu and Rei had been going to school, keeping their cover, and just as they had promised, they stayed out of problems but that didn't mean they didn't know what was going on. The papers had found out of the arrests of the deputy and the magnate only a few days ago. FBI had managed to keep it silent till it was possible..

Ryu and Rei went on buying the American papers while Shinichi and Shiho brought the local ones. They managed to get more news surfing on Internet as well. Anyway, they waited in some trepidation. They were getting close to the goal and this made nervous. They spent many nights discussing on what was going on and hoping to get involved soon.

At school, however, they kept their usual cool face. As they had foreseen, their actions during the trip had warmed the rumour mill: the whispers continued to follow them, for more than just one day.

A few girls with Sonoko at the lead, had taunted Ryu for days till he told them the truth, not standing them anymore. They didn't do the same for Shinichi because they were surprised: they all thought that he was Ran Mouri's boyfriend and since she didn't do anything in first place, they came to the conclusion that Kudo and Miyano liked each other. At the end, they left Ryu and Rei alone too.

Anyway, Sonoko still sent death glares to Rei, Shiho and Shinichi...

For the rest, everything was normal. That day, for example, Shinichi and Ryu had football practice as usual.

Unfortunately, this reverie had to finish. They had to come back to reality.

-

It was nearly five o'clock.

Kojima was ruthless with them all: an match important match was approaching and he wanted the team to be in perfect conditions. Coming to the point, Shinichi and Ryu were exhausted when they finished. They took a quick shower and met the girls outside. They both had an amused look as they saw them.

"Tiring practice?" Shiho asked, as they headed to their motorbikes.

"Kojima-san is a tyrant." Shinichi grumbled, as he stuffed his bag inside the motorbike's trunk and put his helmet on.

"Why are you so annoyed?" Rei asked, stifling a laugh, "I though you two liked soccer."

The two boys' reply was muffled by the helmets they had on their heads.

Shortly after, they were speeding back home. It usually took them ten minutes but, since a road was blocked for works, they had to take a way round. They didn't speak to each other and the only sound was the motorbikes' rumbling and the usual traffic.

Suddenly, Shinichi felt Shiho's hands tighten around his waist.

_-Shiho?- _he asked in concern, _-What's wrong?-_

But he didn't get a reply. He glanced at the wing mirror and tried to get a glimpse of her face through the helmet. She was pale. The last time he had seen her like that, it was..

'No..' he thought, 'It can't be...'

_-Shinichi.- _Ryu said in an oddly calm voice_. -Follow me.- _

_-Don't ask.- _Rei added. Her voice was odd too.

_-Ok.- _Shinichi said. It didn't take him much to understand what was going on.

The two motorbikes turned smoothly at a curve and then they took an alley that was opposite the road they were before. They stopped their bikes just a few metres before coming into the main road again. The four got down and without taking off their helmets, they peered at the street.

A black Porche was parked in front of a bar.

Inside was a man with dark glasses that they knew well.

_-Vodka..- _Shiho whispered, voicing the others' thoughts.

They glanced at each.

The reverie was over.

The four students were only a distant memory now.

Now they were only the detective, the chemist, the computer scientist and the engineer. They had come back to reality.

_Their _reality.

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Chapter 22 is finished! Hope you liked it, even though it ends with a cliffhanger... Don't kill me. Anyway, there isn't much to say: the next chapters will be action packed. We're nearly at the end.

As usual, if there are mistakes or incomprehensible parts send me a mail and I'll deal with it.

Please REVIEW!

BYE!


	25. Before it's too late

Four points of the same star.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Detective Conan.

This chapter will have many sudden changes from Japan to America. So, I hope you won't get confused. On with the story!

-...- transceiver talk

FOUR POINTS OF THES SAME STAR Chapter 23: Before it's too late...

_-What is he doing here?-_

Shinichi, Shiho, Ryu and Rei were hiding behind the alley's wall and peered at the black car that was parked not too far from them. They didn't dare to take their helmets off for the fear of being recognised.

_-If Vodka is here..- _Shiho said, _-It means that Gin is around too.-_

_-That's not reassuring..- _Rei remarked.

_-Shinichi's right, though.- _Ryu stated, _-What is he doing here? I mean, the Organisation has gone through a great loss with the American Headquarter's downfall and all the members should be in alarm. They should be even more careful and secretive than before.-_

_-And they shouldn't be hanging around in broad day as though nothing had happened.- _Shinichi added, _-Unless...-_

_-Unless they are doing some criminal activity...- _Rei said.

_-.. or the other headquarter is nearby.- _Shiho completed.

_-But these are only guesses.- _Shinichi remarked, _-We don't have any evidences.-_

Ryu had been silent while the others talked but he heard them and agreed with their guesses.

'If Vodka and, maybe, Gin are here in the city's center in broad day, they could be doing something for the Organisation or going back to the headquarter.' he thought, 'But, for what we know, they could also be here because they have suspects on... us.'

There were so many possibilities that he couldn't consider them all.

But maybe they could find out...

Without saying a word, Ryu walked back to his motorbike and took off his helmet. Rei, Shinichi and Shiho looked at him with confusion and followed him, taking their helmets off as well. They knew Ryu enough to understand that he had something in his mind.

"Ryu, what are you thinking?" Rei asked, getting to the point immediately.

The boy looked at her and then at his other two friends. He didn't reply but just opened his jacket and took out his chain with the star. Shinichi and the girls looked at him with a puzzled expression as he took the small silver star in his hand and turned it around.

"What are you doing?" Shinichi asked.

"Ryu?" Shiho called.

"I want to put one of my transceivers on Gin's car." he finally replied.

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**America 7 am ( 5 pm in Japan)**

Matt sighed as he flipped through the pages of a thick notebook.

More than two weeks had passed since FBI had raided the Organisation's headquarter and they still didn't have a clue of where the Japanese headquarter could be. He had to admit that the members had been trained well: they wouldn't talk even if they were under torture. Everyone of them, from the simple agent to the scientist, from the high member to the leader, didn't reveal anything. Inspector Xanders and his fellow inspector friends were in charge of collecting information from the captives but they were having trouble doing it because the criminals didn't collaborate at all: they would only smirk or sneer sarcastically at their questions without saying a word.

More than half of the criminals had been sent to high security prisons with isolated jails and with men guarding every captive. In order to do this they needed more men, so Inspector Xanders along with the other three chief Inspectors, started to gather more agents in their ranks. First, they checked them till they were sure they were trustworthy and only after this, they told them about the plan. In this way, there were another hundred men working for MYSTERY. Matt had to admit that now that many people were involved, he felt better: hiding their work was easier.

For example, many reporters had come to bother them after they had found out of the sudden arrests of the deputy and the financial magnate. Inspector Morris had spoke to them, saying that the two public men were involved with a gang of drug dealers. In this way, the press was satisfied: they had their piece of news. For the rest, everything was kept secret: the raid, the many arrests and the many criminals in prison were all information known only by the FBI agents and inspectors involved in MYSTERY.

No one else knew and this was the only bright thing of the situation.

Matt shut the notebook and stretched, getting up from his chair. He, Christine and Lucas had been working restlessly in the last weeks. Chris and Lucas had used Rei's program to work out every archive, database and file they could find in the computers they had taken away. The notebook he was reading was only a small part of that information. Unfortunately for him, most of the material was written in Japanese and he was the only one, besides his father that could read it. Since his father was busy with the other Inspectors, dealing with local criminality, he was the only one that actually read everything. Lucas and Christine often stayed with him, reading the files written in English. As a matter of fact, the three of them were the only ones that spent 24 hours working on MYSTERY. The other agents and the Inspectors helped when they could: they had their own work at FBI to do, after all. If they started to stop doing their duties, it would have been suspicious.

Matt looked at his desk: it was full of papers and there was a stack of thick notebooks on a corner. He groaned as he slumped back on his chair and reluctantly opened the notebook in front of him again. He went on reading for nearly half an hour when someone knocked at his door.

"Come in." he said, looking up.

A boy of his age with black hair and grey eyes came in carrying a laptop; behind came a girl with long brown hair and hazel eyes holding three notebooks.

"Hi, Matt." the boy said, "Where should I put this one?"

"On the corner, Luc, with the other ones." Matt replied. Lucas walked to the corner and put down the laptop on top of one of the computers that were already there.

"We have finished to work these ones out." the girl said, giving the notebooks to Matt, "I've just put the all the papers together."

"Great.." the boy remarked unenthusiastically.

Lucas and Chris smirked.

"So, how is it going?" Lucas asked, "Anything interesting?"

"No. There isn't anything new." Mat replied, "I've already ready five of these notebooks and they all talk about the Organisation's past activities in Japan. It's all stuff I already know about."

"The first information Rei gave you?" Chris asked quietly.

"Yes. It was all in that stack of notes she gave when I went to Japan a few months ago. You know, I can't even skip this part because there might be something hidden in these papers."

"Don't be so cheerful.." Lucas said sarcastically, noticing the bored look on his face. Matt shot him a glare in reply.

"What about you guys?" he asked, "What are you going to do now?"

"We've got to start working on the other computers." Chris said, "We have only worked four of them till now and there are another three.. four left."

"We've quickened a lot now." Lucas added, "It won't take us long to work them."

"Let's hope so." Matt stated.

"By the way, are you sure we can put all the worked out computers here in your office?" Chris asked, "It will be a mess..."

"As though it has ever been tidy..." Matt remarked with a smirk, "It not a problem for me and it's also safer."

"True." Lucas said, "Well, let's get back to work."

"See you later, Matt." Chris said as she left.

"Bye." Matt said.

The door closed and he looked at the pile of work on his desk: he had to quicken up, too.

"Joy to the world.." he muttered to himself as he resumed reading.

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"You have lost your mind completely!"

"It's the only way we have to know where _they _are!"

"Sure but you'll never find their hideout because they will kill you before."

"Then what should we do?"

"I don't know but it must be something less... reckless."

"Rei..."

"No, Ryu."

Shinichi and Shiho watched their friends with an expression torn between concern and slight amusement. It was the first time they ever saw Rei and Ryu argue and they didn't know what to do or whose side to be since both had a good point.

"Rei, listen to me." Ryu said, exasperated, after having argued with his girlfriend for nearly five minutes, "No one knows where the Organisation's headquarter is here in Japan. Even Shiho and I don't know it and we've been working for them. If I put a transceiver on Gin's car, we have the chance to find it."

"I know that." Rei retorted, "But did you consider that if they see you or if they find the transceiver, they'll know that you're here in Beika? It will take them less than a snap of fingers to find you."

"Well, it's a risk I'll take." he said firmly.

"You really _have _lost your mind." she stated, staring at him.

Shinichi coughed lightly, making them turn to him. It seemed that they had forgotten that he and Shiho were there because they blushed slightly.

"Well?" the detective asked, "If we have to do something, we have to be quick. I don't think Vodka will stay there forever."

Rei and Ryu looked at each other: arguing was pointless. They had to come to a common conclusion. And they had to do it fast.

"Any suggestions?" Rei asked, looking at Shinichi and Shiho.

"Well, the idea of the transceiver is not bad.." Shinichi said, "Who knows when we'll ever get the chance to find the headquarter again?"

"I agree with him on this point." Shiho said, "But.. who will risk?"

Rei nodded slowly.

"If you all agree, I can't retort." she said, "But Shiho's right: who will get near the car and put the transceiver?"

"I will." Ryu said.

"No." Rei, Shiho and Shinichi said.

"But it was my idea!" he retorted, "I'm not going to let one of you risk."

"Ryu, listen to me, now." Rei said firmly, "You can't go. Vodka will recognise you."

"She's right." Shiho remarked, "You were already in disguise when you joined the Organisation as Martini and a pair of glasses can't make you seem that different. Even though Vodka' s a pathetic fool, he will know who you are."

"So?" Shinichi asked, "Who goes?"

There was a moment of silence till Rei looked up.

"I will." she said.

"No!" Ryu and Shinichi said together. Shiho didn't say anything.

"I'm the one that risks less to be recognised." she said, "Ryu, you already know why you can't do it. Shiho, you have been in the Organisation for a long time and you're the one that risks most: Vodka, Gin or any other member will recognise you immediately. As for you, Shinichi, Vodka is the one that knocked you down with an iron bar and was there when Gin fed you the pill. If he sees you, I don't think he will think that he has seen a ghost. The Organisation has suspects on your.. death and if Vodka sees you, they will have the proof. Coming to the point, I have only met Scotch till now and he's dead."

"The Organisation thinks that you're dead too." Shinichi remarked.

"And no one knows you." Shiho added.

"Yes, but..." Ryu started to say but Rei stopped him.

"You know that I'm right." she said, "Ryu, I appreciate the fact that you don't want anything to happen to me but remember that I'm a FBI agent just like you. I know how to behave and what to do: don't underestimate me so much. Please."

Ryu looked at her and nodded. She was right.

"Ok." he said, "Take this."

He handed her a very small and transparent octagonal object. Then, the four walked to the alley's entrance and saw that Vodka was still there.

"How are you going to get near the car?" Ryu asked.

"Ehm... I've got an idea... but first..." she replied and, unexpectedly she slipped Ryu's glasses out of his nose.

"What the...?" the boy exclaimed. He turned around and saw the two girls go near the bikes. He looked at Shinichi who shrugged.

Rei took off her school jacket and her tie and handed them to Shiho; she untucked her blouse, putting it loose over her skirt and undid the first two buttons; she ruffled her hair slightly and put Ryu's glasses. Then, she put on her leather jacket. She turned around to Shiho.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"Not bad." the blonde replied with a smile.

Rei put her other clothes in the motorbike's trunk and then the two girls went back to the Shinichi and Ryu. The two boys stared at Rei.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"Amazing." Shinichi replied. Rei smirked.

Ryu was stunned too: she was unrecognisable... not to mention beautiful... He quickly snapped out of his thoughts when he remembered what she was going to do.

"Ok, listen carefully." he said, "Rei, you get near the car and try to put the device in a hidden spot: under the car, on a tire or something like that."

"Will you be able to listen them if I put it there?" she asked.

"I don't know but I'd be satisfied if I know where they go. Anyway, we'll have to wait 12 hours. That's the device's only defect: it takes half a day to show its position when it's applied to a new subject."

"Ok."

Ryu turned to Shinichi and Shiho.

"You two have to go home and check if every thing's normal. If there's something wrong, leave immediately and then when you find a safe place, call us."

"What will you do?" Shiho asked.

"There's a small road behind this block." he said, "I'll wait there with the bike. Rei, you will reach me there as soon as you've put the device, hoping that no one follows you. Shinichi, Shiho, if every thing's normal, call me and we'll come home. Everyone, ready?"

"Yes." Rei said.

"Sure." Shiho replied while Shinichi nodded.

"All right." Ryu said, "It's half past five. If everything goes well, we'll see each other at home in about an hour. Off we go."

Rei walked out and headed to the other side of the road. Ryu, Shiho and Shinichi were incredibly tensed for her but they couldn't stay there. Shinichi and Shiho headed to their bike, put their helmets on and sped away after giving Ryu one of their earring phones. Ryu headed to his bike and was going to leave when he put on the earring phone.

_-Rei?-_

_-Ryu? What's wrong?- _she asked very softly, _-I'm nearly at the bar..-_

_-Be careful.-_

There was a moment of silence.

_-I will, don't worry. See you later.-_

_-See you later.-_

Ryu put on his helmet and sped away on the motorbike.

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**America 8:30 am ( 6:30 pm in Japan)**

Matt's reading session was going on.

Only that morning he had reread the Organisation's activities in the last ten years: all things that he already knew since Rei had given him an encyclopedia-like tome, full of this information. However, this didn't leave him emotionless.

Matt was actually seething in blind rage.

He had read of the accurate plan to murder Rei's parents, the way Ryu's family had been killed, how Kaito's father's death had been classified as an accident and how Akemi Miyano had been silenced. Not to mention all the other murders and deaths of people he didn't know.

Matt couldn't believe that a group of people could do all this. It was too much: too cruel.

Nevertheless, it happened and two of it's founders had been caught. Matt felt anger surging through him only thinking that one of the leaders was a deputy that everyone reputed honest, generous and loyal.

'It was all an act...' he thought, 'Only a mask to cover his true face... that bastard..'

He looked at the time: it was only half past eight. He had come to work at six o'clock, hoping to finish reading all the notes but most of all, he wanted to attend the interrogation of the double-crossers. Since the criminals didn't collaborate, maybe those backstabbing traitors would: they only cared for themselves after all. His father was going to interrogate the double crossers personally around nine o'clock. Matt had never seen his father's eyes flame with anger the way they did when the double crossers were mentioned.

Mr Xanders hated traitors and the fact that men that had worked with him had betrayed FBI, made him even angrier.

Matt sighed and closed the notebook he had finished to read. He noticed with amusement that the stack of books to read on his desk had become smaller: there were only two left.

'Don't rejoice..' he lectured himself, 'Many more will come..'

He reached for another notebook and began to read. He immediately noticed that there was something strange. Till now, he had been reading of past activities: things that had happened a decade ago. But on this papers were described activities that had happened recently. Matt scanned the page looking for a date and he found it. A week before the American Headquarter's downfall.

'No way...' he thought.

Heart thumping, Matt flipped through the pages, looking at the dates. He went on till he read of the last activity: a work of counterfeits that had happened hardly a week ago. But the important point was that it didn't happen in America.

_It had happened in Japan._

Matt got up with a start and walked out of his office, shutting the door behind him and with the notebook in his hand. He headed to an office, three rooms away from his and knocked.

"Come in." a male voice said.

"Luc, Chris, I've got something to ask you." Matt said in a getting-to-the-point tone, closing the door behind him.

The two looked up from their computers and noticed the look on the boy's face.

"Sure." Lucas said, "What's up?"

"The last computer that's in my room... when did you start working on it?" Matt asked.

"The last one? You mean the laptop?" Chris asked, "A few days ago. Why?"

"It has got information of the Organisation's headquarter in Japan. Recent information: the last one is dated back to a week ago."

"What?" Lucas exclaimed, "No way.."

"Exactly what I thought." Matt stated, "Listen, you work on the computers, choosing them randomly, right?" Chris nodded. "When we brought them here, they were all unplugged. Is it possible that information from Japan has been sent to an unplugged computer here in America?"

"Well, no." Chris said.

"Pardon?" Matt asked, "Then where did these information come from? Chris, you gave me these notes an hour ago!"

"Wait, Matt... let me explain." the girl said, "If the computer is unplugged, it's impossible that anything gets saved in it. But, since you have the information, it _must _have been plugged..." Christine stopped abruptly and turned to Lucas. "Didn't we plug all the computers when we brought them here?"

"Yes." he replied, "We checked if there were any viruses or system blocking programs in them. We plugged them all and loaded Rei's decrypting program along with Ryu's protection." Lucas looked at her. "Maybe we left the last computer we checked plugged on."

Chris nodded.

"Yes, it could be." she said, "Remember that I said that we could work on that laptop since it was already plugged and we didn't have to waste time putting all the cables and wires?"

"It must have be like that."

Matt looked at them: he felt the same annoyance that he used to feel when Rei and Ryu rambled on computers.

"So?" he asked.

"So, for our great luck, that laptop has been plugged all the time and the information has been saved in it." Chris remarked.

"And no one noticed it?" Matt asked in confusion, "Ehm.. let's say that someone of the Organisation was regularly sending information to the laptop. Even if we kept the raid secret the other members must know that the American headquarter had fallen. Why would someone keep sending information if there could be the risk that we would see it?"

"Good point.." Lucas stated, "Wait... there is a way."

Matt turned to him.

"Really?" he said, "Tell me."

"Well, I'm not an expert of electronics but maybe, there must be a small processor in the sending computer."

"Come again?"

"Come on, Ryu did the same when he got the information from the Organisation's database. The laptop is connected through a processor to another computer that automatically sends information to it."

"And no one notices it?"

"Matt, didn't Ryu make a mistake like that at the beginning?" Chris asked, "He put a processor and a downloading program in a computer but at the first try, it downloaded the whole hard disk. Maybe, something similar is happening now. With the difference that only some information is being downloaded."

"And no one notices it?" Matt asked again.

"No, unless the dismantle the computer or modify the program."

Matt didn't say anything for a few minutes: he was thinking quickly.

"So, the only ones that know of this... mistake are you two, me and the laptop's former owner, right?" he asked.

"Yes." Lucas said.

"When did you unplug the laptop?"

"More or less an hour ago. Why..?" Chris stopped and looked at Matt: she seemed to be thinking along the same lines as he was. "Unless you.."

"It's an idea..."

"What? What are you guys talking about?" Lucas asked, cutting through their thought process.

"You want to.." Chris said.

"Take advantage of the situation." Matt remarked, "We could do it and.."

"Track them down.."

"To find the other headquarter."

Lucas had followed their cryptic dialogue with a puzzled expression but at the end he understood. He got up and left the room, coming back a few minutes later with the laptop. He quickly put all the plugs and cables and started it. Matt and Chris approached him.

"What if they had sent something during the hour it was unplugged?" the young lawyer asked, "What would happen to that information?"

"Well, that's lost." Lucas said, "But, didn't you say that the last file sent was dated back to a week ago?"

"Yes."

"We have to hope that nothing has happened in the mean time."

Lucas quickly checked the files and Matt read them, since they were all in Japanese. There wasn't anything new.

"Ok." Matt said, "We have to take advantage of this situation. Luc, Chris, I know you're loaded with work but keep an eye on the files: if something new is sent, try to track them down. We have to find the other headquarter as soon as possible."

"We'll call you right away." Lucas said with a nod.

"Yes, don't worry." Chris added.

"All right." Matt replied and glanced at his watch. "I've got to go: it's nearly nine o'clock."

"Where are you going?" the girl asked.

"Dad's going to have a... enjoyable chat with our double crossing colleagues." he replied, "I want to hear what they will say."

"Why are you so sure they'll talk or even tell the truth?" Lucas asked, "We're speaking of people that are natural back stabbers."

"That's the point: they only care for their selves. They will probably ask our help if they collaborate. They would probably trust me if I gave them some guarantees: I'm a lawyer after all."

"So, you'll help them?" Chris asked in disbelief.

"I'll let them think so. I'm a lawyer and a FBI agent, not a saint: since they took advantage of us, I'll take advantage of them." Matt replied coolly.

"And your father agreed?"

"Yeah. He was a bit surprised at the beginning when I came up with this idea but he agreed later. He said that they deserved it."

"Wow, Matt, I never thought you'd be so devilish.." Lucas commented.

"Yes, since when you became so wise and cunning?" Chris asked.

"Well, it shines through occasionally.." Matt replied.

Both Lucas and Chris laughed as he grinned.

"See you later, guys." Matt said, as he opened the door.

"Bye."

Matt walked along the corridor, heading to the interrogation's room. He noticed that he still had the notebook in his hand, so he stuffed it in his jacket pocket and walked on.

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**Shinichi and Shiho**

_-Do you see anyone around?-_

_-No.. and I don't know if it's a good sign or a bad one..-_

Shinichi and Shiho were close to their house.

They had been going around the neighbourhood for a while, looking at every car and person but they didn't notice anything strange. Nevertheless, they were still very cautious: they knew what the Organisation could do. They slowed down when they came in front of Agase's house. Without taking off their helmets, they got down from the bike and looked around.

_-Everything seems normal to me.- _Shinichi said.

_-Let's see..- _Shiho replied. She glanced at Professor's house: it was all in order. The only thing that was missing was the car but that didn't alarm her: Agase had gone to a scientific convention a few days ago and was due to come back tomorrow morning. Shinichi guessed her thoughts.

_-Good thing Professor isn't here.- _he said,_ -He would be the first to be in danger..-_

_-Aren't you worried of the Mouris?- _Shiho remarked_ -If Vermouth had suspects on you being Conan, they could go there and check out.-_

Shinichi shrugged.

_-We can't think of everything now. First, let's check here and then, we'll think of the rest... but I don't think they'd be in trouble.- _he replied. Shiho nodded.

They walked towards the Kudos house and looked around carefully. The gate was closed, just as they had left it that morning and there weren't any signs on the lock: it seemed that no one had tried to get in.

_-What do you think?- _Shinichi asked, opening the gate, _-Seems normal to me.-_

_-They could be waiting inside.- _Shiho stated, _-.. Or they could have left something inside..-_

_-A bomb?-_

_-It wouldn't be the first time they do it.-_

Shinichi glanced at her and saw that she was pale.

_-Do you.. sense them?- _he asked.

_-No.- _she replied_, -I don't know if it's good or bad..-_

He looked at the ground and something clicked in his head.

_-No one came here.- _he asserted.

_-How do you know!"- _Shiho asked

_-There aren't any footprints.-_

_-Shinichi, we're speaking of professionals. Do you really think they would leave visible prints on the ground?-_

_-It rained heavily all night, Shiho. This morning, the ground was muddy: I'm sure of it and it's still soft now. Look, our footprints and the motorbikes' tracks are still visible and they are the only ones. So, unless the members of the Organisation can glide like ghosts or fly like birds, no one came here.-_

Shiho looked at him.

_-Are you sure?- _she asked.

_-Positive.- _he said with a nod.

_-Let's go in then.-_

_-I'll bring the bike here and then we'll go.-_

Shinichi walked back to take the bike and parked it in his lawn. Then, he opened the front door and went in with Shiho.

The girl casually glanced at the clock. Ten to six.

**Ryu**

Ryu was standing next to his motorbike in a small road that coasted the main street. Even though he didn't show it, he was deadly nervous. His thoughts went to Rei then to Shinichi and Shiho. He cursed himself because they were risking their lives while he was safe and hidden.

'I should have gone to check the house..' he thought but then he shook his head.

He was doing it again: he was underestimating them, just like Rei had pointed out. Shinichi and Shiho knew what to do: they had faced the Organisation many times and were still alive to tell it. At the beginning, he was worried about them because they were Conan and Ai, two kids, but now worrying was useless. Shiho had been trained by the Organisation: she had the same skills he had. Maybe she was even better, coming to think of it. While Shinichi had asked him to train him: they had done fighting and shooting sessions. Ryu had to admit that Shinichi was good: he had reached his same level in a very short time. As for Rei, she had always been at his level.

They were all equals. Then why was he so overprotective?

'Who do I think I am? God Almighty?' he thought. He had to trust them: they deserved it.

A sudden phone ring tone broke the silence, snapping him out of his thoughts. Ryu fetched the earring phone from his pocket and put it on.

"Hello?"

_"Ryu?"_

"Shinichi? Thanks God... where are you?"

_"We're at home. We've checked the whole block but there wasn't anyone around. We have also checked the house but there isn't strange. Anyway, we have decided to wait for you: you're the expert when it comes to find devices or check if the phone lines are bugged."_

"All right. By the way, what phone are you using?"

_"My phone, don't' worry. Any news from Rei?"_

"Nothing. I'm waiting here: let's hope everything has gone well."

_"Let's hope so. See you later."_

"See you later."

Ryu sighed with relief: at least, they were safe. He fought the urge to call Rei on the transceiver on his glasses. He had to trust her and wait. However, he didn't put the phone away: if she called him, he would go immediately.

He checked the time. Six o'clock.

**Rei**

Rei was walking towards the bar in front of which was parked the black Porsche that made her feel so uneasy. She had changed her appearance a bit and she was also trusting on the fact that no member of the Organisation, besides the dead Scotch, had ever seen her face but, yet, she felt nervous. She had to find a way to get near the car and put the device on it. The point was how.

Rei got inside the bar and looked around as though she was looking for a friend or a known face and then ordered a coffee.

She noticed that there wasn't anyone dressed in black.

'So, Gin or whoever is with Vodka is somewhere else..' she thought, 'That's reassuring.'

She got out of the bar ten minutes later: the car was still there and the driver was looking at the other side. She had to get near to it without catching Vodka's attention. She had heard enough about him from Shiho, Ryu and Shinichi to know that he was very dangerous. She was still standing by the bar when a young man caught her eye: he was carrying a large grocery bag that partly covered his frontal vision.

'It's now or never..' Rei thought. She started walking, looking around as though she was searching someone and 'accidentally' crashed into the man who hadn't seen her. Rei managed to keep her balance and fell on a knee but the man stumbled to ground and the groceries spilled out from the bag. Rei rejoiced as an apple rolled under the car but cursed inwardly when another one hit the car's door with a soft thud. Vodka must have surely heard it: she had to be quick.

"I'm sorry, sir." she said to the man, who had sat up. "I was looking for a friend and I didn't see you."

"Oh... don't worry." he said. A blush appeared on his face when Rei smiled at him.

"Let me help you." she said and she started to pick the groceries putting them back in the bag. The man did the same.

Rei had the device in her right hand: pretending to reach for the apple that was under the car, she quickly applied it in a hidden spot, right under the car's back door and then got the apple. She was going to get up when she felt her chain slip out of her neck and fall to the ground. She instinctively knelt down to get it.

"What's going on?" a harsh voice said at the same moment.

Rei felt a chill run down her spine as she heard it. She didn't even dare to look up.

"Nothing sir." the man Rei had knocked down, said, "I dropped the shopping and this young lady was helping me."

Vodka carelessly looked down at Rei: her eyes were hidden by her bangs and he couldn't see her face.

"Hurry up and stay away from the car." he ordered and then, he got back in the car.

The other man left, muttering about cranky people. Rei quickly put her chain and walked the opposite direction. She glanced at a nearby car's wing mirror and saw that Vodka was still near the bar and wasn't looking at her.

'He didn't recognise me..' she thought. She clicked on the glasses.

_-Ryu?- _she said softly.

_-Rei? Are you all right?- _he asked. There was a hint of concern in his voice.

_-Yes, but I'll tell you later. What about the others?-_

_-It's all right. They're at home.-_

_-Good. I'll be there with you in a few minutes.-_

_-Ok-_

Rei walked on at a steady pace, feeling quite relieved that nothing had happened.

She glanced at her watch. 18:10.

-

As the girl disappeared from sight, an evil smile appeared on the man's face, his sunglasses hiding the malice in his eyes.

He drew out four pictures from his coat pocket. Someone had scribbled something on the back of each photo. He chose one and looked at it.

It was a girl with dark brown hair that reached her shoulder blades and cobalt-blue eyes. She had a serious expression and a FBI badge was pinned to her jacket. Vodka turned the photo and read what was written in his mind.

'Name: Reila Ikeda

Age: 17

Occupation: FBI agent'

There were other things written but he didn't bother to read them. He glanced at the other photos: they were two boys and a girl. And he knew that three very well.

An evil smile appeared on his face again as he started the engine.

'We will meet very soon..' he thought as he drove away, 'We have found you at last...'

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shinichi, Shiho, Ryu and Rei were all at home.

After a quick shower, they all set up to see if there were devices in the house. Rei put on Agase's x-ray glasses and scanned the whole house while Ryu checked the phone lines.

At the end, they didn't find anything.

It seemed that Shinichi's guess was right: no one had been there.

They went to the studio and discussed about what had happened. Why was Vodka back at Beika? Was he alone or with Gin? These were only few of the many questions they had.

"What if they know we're here for us?" Rei wondered.

"They don't know that we're all together." Ryu said, "I doubt they know that the four of us even know each other."

"But they might have suspects." Shiho retorted, "They saw me here in Beika, Shinichi lives here and Scotch found you here too."

"Yes, but they also think that I'm dead." the detective remarked, "They probably think that you and Ryu have left Beika since they know you were here."

"We just have to wait." Ryu stated, "Till tomorrow morning at least."

"Tomorrow morning?" Rei asked, "Why...? Oh, the device."

"Yes, you said that you applied it around six o'clock. It should start working from six of tomorrow morning."

"What will we do once we know where Vodka is?" Shinichi asked, "We don't know if he's going straight to the headquarter."

"We'll see." Ryu replied, "We could call Matt and see what to do.."

"You don't want to waste this chance." Shiho remarked.

"Well, who knows what the Organisation might do now?" Rei said, "They could decide to move their headquarter or who know what."

"They could slip away if we don't stop them." Shinichi added.

Ryu nodded slowly.

"Yes and we can't let them go away." he said firmly. The others nodded in agreement.

-

That night when they went to bed, Ryu, Rei, Shinichi and Shiho felt a nagging feeling that didn't let them sleep immediately, despite their tiring day.

Meeting a member of the Organisation after all these months had awakened their senses and all the alarm sirens in their mind. It was a quiet night but with a slight wind. Every leaf that rustled and every twig that creaked made them open their eyes in alert. At the end, however, they fell asleep.

The clock in the living room chimed three times. It was eleven o'clock.

It was the calm before the storm...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**America 12 am ( 10 pm in Japan)**

Matt was walking towards his office, his head swimming in the information he had accumulated in one morning. He had just helped his father to interrogate some of the double crossers: three hours spent with people who only cared of their own good.

He could swear he had seen his father's hands shake with rage the whole time. But Mr Xanders wasn't the only one to feel like: Matt and Inspector Morris, who was there too, felt anger surging through them the whole time.

As Matt had foreseen, the double crossers accepted to collaborate only if they could have some guaranties for themselves. Matt had accepted and they started to speak. The first two hours, Matt, Inspector Xanders and Inspector Morris felt like priests listening to sinners: the corrupted ones blabbered about how sorry they felt to have betrayed FBI and sold out their secrets and then talked about their activities. It was all information Matt already knew. His interest increased when the last man was called...

FLASHBACK

Matt, his father and Inspector Morris were standing in front of a table. A man was sitting in front of them. He was tall with brownish black hair and black eyes.

He was Hector Kyle, agent of the drug squad and also partner of one of the murdered agents. He was different from the others: he didn't beg for mercy but had a rather dignified attitude that strongly reminded him of the Organisation's members.

His answers were mainly -yes, -no or -I don't know but despite his loquacity, he admitted his crimes. It was something the other double crossers had avoided to do till the end.

Kyle admitted to have sold out information regarding FBI for nearly an year: he revealed dates and places where raids should have been, told how many men were involved. He even admitted that he had sold out his own partner and his family.

When Inspector Morris, head of the drug squad, asked why he did it, he had replied: "A desperate man will make a deal with the darkest demon if it meant he would survive."

It seemed that Kyle's life wasn't so easy: he was divorced, had many debts and had a few problems with his colleagues. He was your typical cold and asocial subject.

He had been a first class agent along with his partner James Madison but slowly, as his problems began, a growing distance separated the two men. When the Organisation got interested on Madison, Kyle lamely tried to convince him because he was sure he would refuse. He was the one that kidnapped and later killed Madison's wife and daughter. Inspector Morris couldn't hide a disgusted look: this was one of his best men.

It was Matt that made the last questions and, surprisingly, Kyle had replied with full sentences.

"Do you know anything of the Organisation's recent plans?" he asked, "You're one of the men that has worked longer time for them."

"I don't know." he replied, "They didn't trust me enough... but I heard a few rumours."

"That are...?"

"They knew that FBI had valiant collaborators that could find their hideout. It seemed that they had an emergency plan if one of the headquarters was found."

"What was it?"

"I said it was only a rumour: I don't know the details. However, I can only say that the headquarter in Japan is more important than the one that was here."

"Where is it then?"

"I don't know."

"Why am I not surprised.." Matt commented sarcastically, "You can go. Thanks"

As Kyle got up, two men flanked him, ready to escort him back to jail. However, when he was about to leave, he turned around.

"Matt Xanders." he called. The boy looked at him. "You tricked the others, saying that they would be helped by the law. Why didn't you do the same with me?"

"You wouldn't have fallen in my trap." Matt replied, "It would have been an insult to your intelligence if I only tried to do it. After all, you were one of the best agents here."

Hector Kyle stared at him. The boy remembered him of James Madison when they first met: same sense of honour and same respect for other people even if they were criminals. A small smile appeared on his face as a glint of sorrow flashed through his eyes.

"There's one last thing I have to say." he remarked, "One day, nearly a month ago, a man with black trench coat, black hat and with long pale blonde hair came to the headquarter. It was the first I ever saw him there. He mainly spoke with a woman and another man: they spoke in Japanese the whole time. When he was leaving, I heard the woman say something in English, without bothering to be heard.

"The traitor and the living dead will help us reach our goal."

Matt looked at him in confusion.

"What does it mean?" he asked.

"I don't know." was the reply.

"Then, why did you tell me this?"

"It's a way to pay.. for the past crimes"

With this last statement, Hector Kyle left the room.

END FLASHBACK

_"The traitor and the living dead will help us reach our goal."_

'What the hell does _that _mean?' he thought, scratching the back of his head. He was heading to his office but then he changed his mind and went to see how Lucas and Chris' work was going on. He had hardly reached their office, that the door opened and he found himself face to face with Chris.

Literally.

There were a mere ten centimeters between them.

"Hi, Chris." he said flashing a smile and his green eyes sparkling. The girl blushed, stepping back.

"Matt, I was looking for you." she said, as they went in.

"Well, here I am. What's up?"

"We've received some new information." Lucas replied from his desk. He was working on the laptop Matt had told them to plug on three hours ago.

"You're kidding me." he remarked, approaching him, "Didn't you say that the information couldn't be saved if the computer was unplugged?"

"Yes but, I think that the processor can memorize the data. And then, if the information has not already been sent, it sends it to this laptop. I don't know how much material we've got though.."

"Whatever. What do the files say?"

"_You _are the one that has to tell us what's written on these files." Chris said, "There all in Japanese."

"Ehm.. right." Matt muttered embarrassedly. Chris smiled.

"I've printed them: they were all small files so I put them all together." she said and handed him a sheet of paper, "Here."

Matt took them and scanned the page: it was a short, mainly formed by dates and short sentences.

"Let's see, this one's of three days ago." he said, "Locations for the operation have been found. In order to fulfil the transfer, all the members have been called."

Lucas looked confused.

"What's this?" he asked, "An operation? With a transfer that requires all the members?"

Matt shrugged and went on.

"This is of yesterday." he said, his eyes widening slightly, "All the preparatives are finished. The operation will start as soon as the two subjects will be captured."

"Two subjects?" Chris asked.

"That's all." Matt said, "Well, the new thing we know is that they are preparing an operation: an operation that requires a transfer and all the members' aid. And it will start when... the two.. how did they say? Oh yes ... subjects will be found."

"Who could this two subjects be?" Lucas asked, "Or better, where could they be? America o Japan?"

"Good question..." Matt remarked, "If only we had a clue or ...What the...?"

A sudden beeping sound startled them. Chris jumped from her seat.

"Something else is coming!" she exclaimed, "Lucas, we have to track them down!"

"I'm ready." he said, connecting his computer to the laptop with a cable, while Chris did the same. Matt stood up and stepped back, giving them all the space they needed.

"Can you do it?" he asked.

"I think so.." Chris said, typing quickly, "We couldn't do it before because the information was saved on the processor: it was impossible to track down the sender but now it's different."

"Why?"

"Someone is working on the other computer now." Lucas replied, "We have the chance to track him."

"And then, you'll know where he is?" Matt asked.

"Well, it will take a few hours work to do it but... yes." Chris said, "We will know from where the information is coming."

"Great.."

The room went silent as the two scientists worked: the only sound was the typing coming from their keyboards.

"It's done." Chris said, after a while, "As soon as the information will be downloaded on the laptop, we'll automatically have a clue of where the sender is. Then, we'll work it out."

Matt eagerly looked at the laptop's screen, waiting to see what would appear. A few seconds later, a window appeared and Chris clicked the button OPEN.

The colour drained from Matt's face when he saw the file's content.

There were four photos with a small paragraph, next to each. Chris and Lucas looked at Matt: it was written in Japanese. He had to translate.

The boy started from the first picture: a girl with dark brown hair that reached her shoulder blades and cobalt-blue eyes; she had a serious expression and a FBI badge was pinned to her jacket. 'Rei..' he thought.

And he slowly began to read.

"Name: Reila Ikeda.

Age: 17.

Occupation: FBI agent

Very talented computer scientist: the only one that has decrypted secret information stolen by the infiltrator."

Matt gulped: they were talking about Rei when she first joined MYSTERY.

"Presumed dead(?)"

Matt arched an eyebrow, as he saw the question mark,

"Probably, the main responsible of the systematic downfall of all our system's security programs and the loss of our headquarter in New York."

A stunned silence greeted his last words: they knew that Rei was alive and that she had helped them recently.

The next photo showed a boy with short dark blonde hair, cold light blue eyes and an emotionless expression. He was wearing a black shirt, black coat and a black hat. 'Ryu..'

"Name: Ryuji Xanders/ Ryuji Kazama.

Age: 17

Occupation: FBI agent

Electronic engineer that has special devices that must come in our possession. He infiltrated in our American headquarter and stole information, passing it to FBI. His codename was Martini, member of the computer technology and programming group. Still on the run: must be silenced. "

Matt looked at the following picture. A reddish-blonde haired girl with light blue eyes that wore a lab coat over a black turtleneck, stared back at him colourlessly. 'Shiho...'

"Name: Shiho Miyano

Codename: Sherry

Age: 17

Occupation: Member of the scientific research group

Chemist that worked on the experimental poison's project APTX-4869. She is a traitor and escaped from our gas chambers. Still on the run: must be silenced.

Matt's gaze fell on the last picture: it was a newspaper cutting. A boy with dark hair that stuck out at the back and was dressed with a dark suit looked at him seriously. 'Shinichi..'

"Name: Shinichi Kudo

Age: 17

Occupation: Detective

Eyewitness to an activity and fed with the experimental poison. Presumed dead. However, there are doubts that he is still alive: if found, he must be silenced."

Matt took a deep breath as the information he had just read sunk in.

But that was just the beginning: there was another statement after. He read it loud.

"One of the two subjects has been located in the suspected area: the first stage has finished successfully. When the second subject will be located and both will be on our side, the operation will start. Our task will be achieved if they will be us."

The room fell silent again. Chris and Lucas looked confused after having heard all these cryptic news but Matt was lost in his thoughts.

He had the odd feeling that he already knew the answer to all his questions: the point was finding it. It was there... in his head... if only he had a clue _where _it was.

He walked to the window, calmed down and cleared his thoughts, concentrating: he had to find a key.

_"The traitor and the living dead will help us reach our goal."_

Hector Kyle's strange sentence came back to his mind.

'Maybe.. that''s the key..' Matt thought. He had to put all the pieces together.

_**FLASH**_

_"We can be both God and the devil since we're trying to raise the dead against the stream of time"_

"_God and the devil. . "Rei said slowly, "Good and evil… but, maybe, also…"  
"Life and death." Ryu added, "And this would mean…"  
"Pandora and the APTX-4869." Shiho completed.  
"Exactly." Shinichi remarked, "Immortality and instant death."_

_**FLASH**_

"_They want something to kill, besides weapons, so they want this poison. They want something to reach immortality, so they want that gem, Pandora." he said, "My question is: what do the computer scientists got to do with this?"_

_A blank silence greeted his words. No one knew what to say or think of. Only Rei was lost in her thoughts and then, she got it._

"_Simulations.." she said, "They probably want some certitudes that Pandora's miraculous substance works. Or maybe they're trying to find a different combination of elements that can make that substance."_

_**FLASH**_

"_I was in the scientific research group and was working on a chemical, medic-poison project: the APTX-4869." Shiho said quietly, "It's a poison… well, it should be the perfect poison: always efficacious, immediate operation and traceless in blood testing."  
"Well, it seems like something went wrong…" he remarked, "I mean, you and Kudo are still alive and you took the poison."  
"We two are a… particular case. The APTX has been used other times and it worked: all the deaths have been confirmed." _

_**FLASH**_

_"They knew that FBI had valiant collaborators that could find their hideout. It seemed that they had an emergency plan if one of the headquarters was found."_

_**FLASH**_

_"Reila Ikeda.. Very talented computer scientist: the only one that has decrypted secret information stolen by the infiltrator... Probably, main responsible of the systematic downfall of all our system's security programs and the loss of our headquarter in New York."_

_**FLASH**_

_"Presumed dead(?)"_

_**FLASH**_

_"Shiho Miyano... Sherry... Member of the scientific research group... Chemist that worked on the experimental poison's project APTX-4869..."_

_**FLASH**_

_"One day, nearly a month ago, a man with black trench coat, black hat and with long pale blonde hair came to the headquarter. It was the first I ever saw him there. He mainly spoke with a woman and another man: they spoke in Japanese the whole time. When he was leaving, I heard the woman say something in English, without bothering to be heard._

_"The traitor and the living dead will help us reach our goal."_

_**FLASH**_

_"The operation will start as soon as the two subjects will be captured."_

_**FLASH**_

_"Nobody must recognize you, Rei: try to disguise yourself somehow. And wait till your.. ehm.. "death" is official."_

_**FLASH**_

_"She is a traitor and escaped from our gas chambers."_

_**FLASH**_

_"One of the two subjects has been located in the suspected area: the first stage has finished successfully. When the second subject will be located and both will be on our side, the operation will start. Our task will be achieved if they will be us."_

Matt's eyes widened as the pieces of the puzzle slowly fit together and a dreading thought sunk in.

"The traitor.. and.. the living.. death." he muttered, ".. will help us reach our goal... located in the suspected area... first stage... finished successfully... OH, DAMN IT!"

Chris and Lucas jumped at his sudden outburst: they turned to him and saw that he was pale. Very pale.

"Matt, what ... ? " Chris started to say in concern but he stopped her with a hand.

"Just give me a minute." he said softly. There was a worried hint in his voice and she nodded slowly.

Matt left the room and rushed to his office. He found his cell phone and dialled a number. The phone didn't even ring: it seemed to be enabled. A sense of foreboding washed through him.

"I told them to wait..." he muttered, as he dialled the number again, "Ryu.. Rei.. Shinichi.. Shiho... if you four have done something stupid, I swear that I'll kill you the moment I find you."

Once again, the phone didn't even ring. Matt quickly took a piece of paper from his wallet where he had written Shinichi's earring phone number. He dialled the number but once again there was no signal at all. Close to exasperation, Matt dialled Agase's number.

It was half past ten in Japan and he hoped Professor would be awake. His hopes went up when the phone rang but sunk down after five minutes of continuous ringing without any answer.

"Why the hell have a phone if no one answers?" he growled angrily, slamming his cell phone on his desk. He held his head with a hand, trying to calm down. Matt looked up only a few minutes later, feeling someone's stare. Chris was by the door with a concerned glint in her eyes.

"Matt, are you all right?" she asked, approaching him.

"Chris..." he said, not replying to her question, "Please, call everyone."

"Who?" she asked in confusion.

"All the people that are involved in MYSTERY. I have to talk to my father and the other inspectors. You and Lucas get all the agents. Tell them to come to the meeting's room in half an hour."

He walked to door but Chris stopped him, blocking his way.

"Why?" she asked, "Matt, what's going on?"

He stared at her.

"I'll explain everything in half an hour. Please, Chris, go and call the others. We have to leave for Japan as soon as possible. Before it's too late.."

Matt left after having said that mysterious statement, leaving a concerned and rather confused Christine at the door.

-

"Are you sure of what you are saying?"

"Yes, Dad.. sir."

Matt was in his father's office, talking with him and other three inspectors: Inspector Morris, Knight and Carter. The young agent had rushed in their offices saying that the events had taken a sudden and rather perilous turn. It didn't take them much to understand what he was talking of so they all met in Inspector Xanders' office.

Matt's revelations had left them speechless: if what he said was true, they couldn't waste a minute more...

Mr Xanders was standing in front of his son. He had black shining hair with small gray streaks just above his ears and dark blue eyes that were sparkling with concern at the moment. He was the only one that asked questions to the boy.

"Matt, if what you're saying is true..." he started but the boy cut him through.

"It _is _true!" he exclaimed, "Chris and Lucas have been working on the computers from the day we brought them here. For pure luck, one of them is connected to a computer in Japan and records all the information. I have just read the entries of the last two days!"

"Matt, calm down." Inspector Xanders ordered firmly and this actually calmed the boy who took a deep breath. The man nodded. "So, you were saying..."

"The Organisation has set up a trap and I think that they have fallen in it. They know that Rei is alive and I think that they know about the others too even though I still don't know how. But there is more: after the downfall of their headquarter they made a plan. It's just a guess for the moment, I still have to finish to read the other notes Chris and Lucas have given me, but I think they are planning to move their Japanese headquarter somewhere else."

"They must have decided to do it after having seen what has happened to the one here in New York." Inspector Morris remarked, "They want to avoid a total downfall."

"Yes, sir." Matt said with nod, "From the information we have, it seems that they have already prepared everything for the transfer and all the members have been called. They are just waiting to capture... the two subjects." The boy's eyes clouded. "However, Lucas and Chris are tracking down the other computer: we'll have their exact position as soon as they locate it."

The four men nodded and glanced at each other. Matt looked at them with slight confusion and impatience.

"Excuse me but shouldn't we...?" he started to ask but his father stopped him with a hand. This was a characteristic Matt had inherited from him.

"We have already decided." Mr Xanders said.

"What?" the boy asked in bewilderment, "But.. you didn't even talk to each other!"

"Experience, my boy." Inspector Knight said with a slight smile.

"Yes." Inspector Xanders added, "You did your work, now it's our turn." He looked at his watch. "It's one o'clock"

He turned to his colleagues.

"Scott..?" he asked, turning to Inspector Knight.

"I'll get the planes and vehicles ready." he replied and walked out of the room.

"Derek...?" he said turning to Inspector Morris.

"I'll get all the equipment." he replied and left the room.

"Jason..?" he called at last, turning to Inspector Carter.

"I'll talk to the men." he said, "Evans and Daimon must have already found them all: I'll start giving them a few explanations."

"All right, we can't waste time." Inspector Xanders remarked, " I'll start to make a plan."

Carter left, leaving Matt and his father alone.

"Have I understood well?" the boy asked, "We are..?"

"Yes, we're leaving for Japan." the man replied, "This is our chance to get the Organisation off guard: we can't waste it. And, most of all, we have to find Ryu, Reila and your other friends before it's too late."

Matt looked at his father with great respect. The man noticed it because he smiled.

"You did your share too, son." he said, "I'm very proud of you. Come on, I.. we will start to make our plan."

"We?"

"Yes, we. You, Ryu and the others have made a plan that involved Japan's police forces right? You have to fill me in. America and Japan will have to work side by side. With no mistakes."

Matt nodded and set to work with his father.

-

**America 3 pm (1 am in Japan)**

The second floor of the FBI's headquarter in New York was desert.

All the agents involved in MYSTERY had gone to the sudden meeting that had been held at one o'clock. How Chris and Lucas had managed to find nearly hundred men in half an hour was beyond anyone's comprehension but they did it.

Everyone attended the meeting: only Matt and Inspectors Xanders, Morris and Knight arrived later. Inspector Carter explained what was happening and that, due to the events, they all had to leave for Japan that very day. None of the agents protested: they knew that it would have happened. It was only a question of time after the raid that had happened a few weeks ago. The other Inspectors exposed the plan.

Knight had a few contacts at the local airport.

After a few phone calls and lots of angry yells, he had managed to get two planes ready to leave at eight o'clock. He couldn't do any better: it was that or the next day. He had also found a cargo jumbo jet that could transport forty cars. He then, called the American embassy in Japan and asked for immediate help. He said that it was an emergency and without other explanations, he set up a few orders: they had to get the permission from the Japanese airport at Tokyo for their landing and they also had to prepare fifty cars for them, ready at the airport. All this had to be done for the next morning.

The ambassador in Japan didn't even have the chance to retort...

Morris was in charge of the equipment. All FBI agents had a bullet-proof vest and a gun but he thought that it wasn't enough. He managed to get crates with a hundred automatic guns and nearly as much revolvers. In this way, every man would have two guns each. He ordered a large supply of ammunition too: nearly a hundred boxes of bullets and as many chargers. Also a large amount of silencers. The vendor, that sold him all these things and that knew the police inspector very well, jokingly asked if they were in war again considering the large amount of weapons he had bought in such a short time. Morris had smiled grimly and said that they were all necessary. He also asked the man to keep his visit secret till their next meeting. He then set out to find the rest of the equipment: transceivers, walkie-talkies and also night-visual glasses. They didn't know when they had to go in action: it could be broad day as well as night. He had to consider every possibility. During the meeting, Morris gave every man another gun along with the necessary bullets and chargers and a transceiver or a walkie-talkie. The spare equipment along with the glasses was going to be shipped on the plane and used if necessary.

At the end, Inspector Xanders exposed the first stage of their plan.

All the men, besides those who were not guarding the prisoners, had to go to the airport: since no one had to know what they were doing, they had to help load the planes with the cars and the supplies of guns and ammunition. At eight o'clock they would have left New York and gone to Tokyo where they would approximately be there around six in the morning. Once in Japan, Matt would have contacted his.. collaborators and then, they would have decided how to work with the local police forces. Chris and Lucas had also tracked the signal of the computer: it was at the bay of Tokyo.

Now they had a place. The meeting was dismissed an hour later and all the men went back home to inform their families: they didn't know when exactly they would have come back but, most of all, they had to admonish them not to say anyone of their sudden departure.

At three o'clock there wasn't anyone at the headquarter, besides Matt, Chris and Lucas. Inspector Xanders had ordered them to keep out of the works and to be at the airport around seven o'clock. They had _their _own work to do.

Chris and Lucas were decrypting the other computers at full speed: it was a miracle if the keyboards of their computers were not fuming. Matt, on the other hand, was reading all the information they systematically printed: he had to know as much he could. The room was relatively quite: besides the typing, the only audible sound came from the two printers. Matt had written a concise but detailed report on the Organisation from it's first activities to their most recent ones. He had just added the information he had read today.

As they had planned months ago, Shinichi had to contact Inspector Megure and Heiji Hattori who would have called his father to help FBI. Matt had planned to give the reports to the men as a surplus sure that Shinichi would have talked with them before but, now that he wasn't even sure where the young detective was, he might have to give the explanations instead.

Three hours later, the three agents finished their work.

"I can't believe it." Lucas said, turning his computer off, "We decrypted the files of four computers."

"Don't I know.." Chris said stretching.

Matt opened his briefcase and put in five copies of the report along with the notebook that he had started to read this morning: it had all the information concerning the Organisation's activities during the past week and he wanted to read it on the plane. Maybe, he could find some more hints. He shut the briefcase close and looked up.

"We've got to go." he said, "We have to be at the airport in an hour."

"It seems that we've just got the time to go home, get ready and leave." Lucas remarked, "Well, see you later guys. I've got to hurry up."

"Oh, yes. You live far from here..." Chris stated, "Will you make it in time to the airport?"

"I've got my scooter." he reassured her, "Bye, see you later."

"Bye." the other two said as he left. They gathered their things and Matt noticed something.

"Why are you taking that laptop?" he asked, pointing to the small computer that she was putting in her bag.

"I'll take it with me." Chris replied, "I can't use it on the plane but, once we land I can check if there are new entries."

"Great idea." he remarked, "Anyway, how are you going home?"

"Good point.." she said, "I think I'll call home and then go straight to the airport."

"Without seeing your parents?"

"What can I do? My car's in repair and, knowing how much time I'd be stuck in traffic if I take a bus, I don't have other choice, do I?"

Matt stared at her. He took her jacket and tossed it to her.

"What the..?" she exclaimed, catching it.

"Come on, I'll drop you home." he remarked, "I've got my motorbike and, fortunately, even a spare helmet."

"Matt, thanks but.."

"No, buts. I'm sure your parents would like to see you before you leave. They would only be dead worried if you only give them a phone call."

Chris put on her jacket and looked at him curiously.

"You're talking of Ryu, right?" she asked. The boy nodded.

"When he infiltrated in the Organisation, my mother was always anxious for him. She definitely panicked when he disappeared. Dad and I were worried too. Believe me, you wouldn't want your parents to feel like that, too."

"All right, thanks Matt." she said. Her eyes softened and she approached him, kissing lightly on the cheek. Matt blushed.

"It's the first time I've ever seen you blush." she said with a smirk.

"Oh, really?" he muttered, still red. He put his jacket on and took his briefcase. "Let's go."

They left after having locked the door.

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Shinichi, Shiho, Ryu and Rei got up earlier than usual.

It was only half past five but they had already washed and dressed in normal day clothes: they had decided to skip school. Finding the Organisation's headquarter was more important. They quickly had breakfast and went to the studio.

Ryu walked to the desk he shared with Shinichi, followed by the other three.

A metallic object with something like a plastic-glass panel on the front, was on top of it: it was the size of a laptop. It was Ryu's radar and vaguely looked like a small LCD monitored television put upside down. He quickly plugged all the cables and wires and waited for it to work. Shinichi and the girls stayed in silence.

The monitor was turned on: a white grill with rather large boxes appeared on a black background. At the four sides there were arrows showing the polar points. On the top were the coordinates of longitude and latitude. Suddenly, four bright yellow points appeared on the center of the screen.

"We are these points." Ryu explained, "The radar is still set up low: the range is only a hundred of meters."

"What's it's maximum range?" Rei asked.

"50 kilometers." he replied, "I couldn't do any better with the parts I found."

"That's more than half of the city." Shinichi said thoughtfully.

"Without considering the suburbs and the towns immediately out of Tokyo." Shiho remarked.

"You've got a point, Shiho." Ryu stated, "We have to hope the other device's signal is inside the radar's range starting from the house."

"Otherwise?" Shinichi asked.

"Otherwise, we'll have to see what to do." the other boy replied, "Let's see now."

Ryu pressed a hidden button on the bottom of the radar's edge and a quiet 'click' could be heard as a touch pad came out. He put his finger on it and gently tapped it. The screen changed: the boxes became smaller along with the points at the center.

"10... 20... 30.." he muttered, "40... 45... 50.. Damn it. He isn't in."

Disappointment could be clearly seen on their faces.

"So, what do we do?" Rei asked after a while, "I don't think we'll give up."

"No." Ryu said firmly, "We'll have to find him."

"How?" Shinichi asked, "Wait a minute.. you want to go back there?"

"Right. We'll start from the last place we've seen Vodka." the blonde replied.

"What about the radar?" Shiho asked, "You can't bring it with us."

"You could use our computers." Rei suggested before Ryu could reply, "The ones Agase gave us. Didn't you say that the radar could be linked to a laptop or computer?"

"Good idea.. and we could use our glasses." Ryu said, "Bring them to me."

Rei and Shiho left the room and came back a few minutes later with the two computer big as a wallet. They handed them to Ryu who set to work immediately.

"There isn't a lot of space.." he said, "I'll just put a connecting program: in this way, if I leave the radar on, the computers can link to it freely but you can still use them for other reasons."

"What about the range?" Rei asked.

"The radar's origin will change with our movements." Ryu replied, "But it's lower than the original radar: 25 kilometers, I think."

He handed them back to the girls and got up. The four looked at each other: they knew what was going to happen. Ryu was the first to speak.

"Before deciding anything.." he started with a serious face, "We have to make a choice: it's individual and no one must be or feel forced to do something he or she doesn't want to do." The others nodded in agreement and he went on. "All right. So, anyone wants to give up? It's now or never: there isn't another chance. If we start to plan something from now on, we have to be sure of ourselves and of the others: otherwise, we're just throwing our lives away. Sincerely, anyone wants to give up?"

Silence greeted his words. Ryu looked at the others' eyes one by one.

"Rei?"

"No, I'm not giving up." she said firmly, "It's more than a year that I'm working to do this and I'm not leaving now. I even feigned my death to do it!"

She was sincere: Ryu could see it. He turned to the next one.

"Shiho?"

"I'm not giving up." she said, "At the beginning, it could have been vengeance but now, I want to bring them down also for my past wrongs."

Her tone was so firm that Ryu didn't even have to doubt.

"Shinichi?"

He didn't answer immediately but Ryu could understand: among the three, he was the one that was hurt least. He had been shrunken and had suffered, he admitted it, but he hadn't lost everything like Rei, Shiho and he did. If he gave up, they would have understood. At last, Shinichi looked up and shook his head.

"No, I'm not giving up." he asserted, "It's not only for what they've done to me but for what they've been able to do till now. I will stop them."

Ryu smiled despite the moment. Shinichi was like that: the honest and sometimes naive detective that always followed the rules of justice. He had that determined sparkle in his eyes and Ryu nodded.

"What about you?" Rei asked, "What have you decided?"

Ryu looked at her.

"I'm not giving up." he said, "I've worked the plan at the very beginning with Matt and got all of you involved.. I'm not leaving even if what we're heading for could also be a trap."

They looked at each other again and nodded as though they had made a silent deal.

"So, what do we do?" Shinichi asked in a business-like tone.

"The faster we work, the better it will be." Ryu replied, "First of all, we need a car."

"We have to rent one." Rei said.

"Yes and then, we have to get prepared... I think you understand what I mean." he remarked.

"We have to take the guns and the necessary equipment." Shiho said quietly.

"We can only take the essential though." Shinichi stated, "I don't think we can take a bag pack or something."

"No, we can't." Ryu agreed, "Just the necessary things."

"Who will go to take the car?" Shiho asked.

"I will." the boy replied, "Rei, you exposed yourself yesterday while, Shiho, Shinichi, you don't have a driving licence to show when you'll fill the rental form."

The others couldn't retort.

"I'll go right away." Ryu said, "You three start to prepare yourselves."

"What about you?" Shinichi asked, as Ryu headed to the door.

"I know what to bring. I'll take them when I come back."

-

Fifteen minutes later, an old dark blue car was parked in front of the Kudos house: Ryu couldn't find anything better. Inside, the preparations were finished.

The four teenagers were in the studio.

Ryu was wearing black jeans, a gray shirt with a white t-shirt under it, dark trainers and his leather jacket with the bullet-proof vest sewn in. He had decided to take his two guns, the automatic and the revolver with two chargers and a fistful of bullets. He put all these things in his jackets inner pockets. He wore his glasses with transceiver and radar built-in.

Rei was wearing blue jeans, a white blouse, her denim bullet-proof vest, dark trainers and her black leather jacket. She had taken her automatic and two chargers and put it in her jacket pockets along with her small computer and her x-ray sunglasses.

Shiho wore blue jeans, a white blouse over a black long sleeves turtleneck, dark trainers and her leather jacket. She took her automatic with two chargers and put them in her pockets with her computer and her earring phone. She also wore her flash light watch.

Shinichi wore blue jeans, a white shirt with a blue one over it, dark trainers and a leather jacket. He put his automatic and two chargers in the inner pocket. He had decided to take his old glasses with transceiver and radar built-in, the bow-tie and was wearing his old stun-gun watch. He had brought a few spare hypodermic needles and pinned them on a side of his jacket. He would have also taken his earring phone but they battery was low since yesterday and he didn't have time to charge it.

To finish, the four were wearing baseball caps: it wasn't much as a disguise but it was better than nothing.

"Ok." Shinichi said, "We can go."

"All right." Ryu remarked, holding the car keys.

Rei took out her computer.

"Off we go to find Vodka." she said.

"And the rest of the Organisation." Shiho added.

They left a few minutes later. Six o'clock.

Ironically, Matt and FBI were landing at the airport of Tokyo at the very same time...

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"Kaito.. wake up."

"In a minute, Mum."

"No, wake up.. come on."

"Mum, it takes me five minutes to get dressed. Give me another few more minutes..."

"I know, honey, but there is one of your friends on the phone."

Blue orbs opened slowly and Kaito Kuroba sat up groggily, staring at his mother with sleepy eyes.

"What?" he asked.

Kasumi Kuroba looked at her son with amusement. He just sat there on his bed, with his hair more ruffled than usual and a rather dazed expression.

"There's someone on the phone for you." she said, "And I thinks it's urgent."

"All right." he replied and reluctantly got up. He looked at the time. It was only ten past six!

'Who is the insane person that calls me at this time?' he wondered, going to the phone table. His mother smiled slightly seeing his face and went downstairs to the kitchen.

"If it's Aoko, I swear I'll..." he muttered, "Maybe, it's Hakuba with another of his accuses, saying that I am Phantom Thief Kid..." A smirk appeared on his face. "But I'll kill him if it's him.."

He took the receiver, stifling a yawn.

"Hello?" he mumbled.

_"Kid, Ford speaking."_

The boy's attitude changed immediately.

Kaito changed from drowsy and sleepy eyed to alert and fully awake. Matt had never called him since he had entered MYSTERY: he had only talked to Kudo when he gave constant news about the events at Tokyo's principal police station.

"What's up?" he asked, "Something wrong?"

_"You can't even immagine it... Listen, I'm at Tokyo now and there are more than hundred FBI agents with me."_

"What?" Kaito exclaimed in surprise, "Why?"

_"I can't explain everything now but.. well.. I found out that the Organisation might know of Ellery, Christie, Conan and Ai." _

"What?"

_"Yes but that's just the beginning: the Organisation's going to move its headquarter to another site. That's why we are here: we have to stop them before they get away."_

"What should I do?"

_"You have to go to the police station again and check if the Chief Inspector Koji Koizumi is still there. He's one of the leaders and he might try to go away or do something. You also have to check if the imprisoned member is still there."_

"Ok, when?"

_"When? NOW!"_

"O..ok! Calm down." Kaito sweat dropped.

_"Kid, you also have to do me a great favour."_

"Sure, tell me."

_"I tried to call the others but the phone's enabled. It's the same with Conan's cell phone and Professor doesn't answer."_

"But.. I talked to them less than a week ago!"

_"Listen, I don't know what has happened but I'm afraid for them. The Organisation seems to know too much about them: I think that they've set up a trap and those four have fallen in it. I can't go now because I'm stuck at the airport."_

"What must I do?"

_"After you did your work, go to their place and check if someone's there."_

"Ok."

_"If no one's there, you have to do another thing."_ Matt said.

Kaito listened for five whole minutes without saying a word and at the end, he nodded. "All right." he said.

_"Kid, one last thing, you live with your mother, right?"_

"Yes but what's this got to do with her?" Kaito asked sharply.

_"Leave her in a safe place with someone you trust. I read a few recent files and the Organisation's got a few suspects on Phantom Thief's identity. You are on that list, too."_

"Oh, God..."

_"They are only suspects for now but it's better to be cautious."_

"Thanks, Ford. I'll take care of her security."

_"Ok. We'll meet... where will we meet?"_

Kaito thought it over and suggested a place.

_"Ok. Bye Kid. Good luck and see you later."_

"See you later."

Kaito put down the phone.

'Where can I leave Mum?' he thought, 'Maybe... yes.. it's the only place. But how can I take her there without suspicions?'

"Kaito?"

The young boy turned with a start, facing his mother.

"Mum!" he said in tone that was mingled with shock and surprise, "What...? When did you come?"

"Is there something wrong?" she asked.

Kaito didn't answer immediately. He hated lying to his mother. He had often thought of telling her the truth about him... Kid, but this wasn't the moment.

"Mum, can I ask you a favour?" he asked.

"Of course." she replied, slightly taken aback.

"Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies."

"Kaito, what do you mean?"

"Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies." the boy repeated. The woman didn't say anything, seeing his serious face. "I've got to help a few friends. They might be in trouble and I want to help them. Mum, can you stay at Aoko's house for a few days?"

"What about you?" she asked fearing for him.

"I'll be back, Mum. As soon as I help my friends." he replied, "But I've got to go soon. Why don't you prepare yourself? I'll get dressed too. But first I'll call Aoko."

"All right." Mrs Kuroba went upstairs to get ready.

As she walked up the steps she thought that it was the second time she had ever seen Kaito so serious: the first time, it had been at her husband's funeral. Since then, her son had been carefree and joyful, trying to hide his pain for his father's loss.

He always cheered her up when she felt down, doing one of the magical tricks his father had thought him and that he had bettered with time.

Suddenly, she had a flash of a newspaper's heading: "_Phantom Thief Kid appears again!" _

Mrs Kuroba sighed and went in her room.

-

Kaito rang the Nakamori's doorbell.

He had talked with Mrs Nakamori on the phone since Aoko was still asleep and had made up a excuse to allow his mother stay at there house for a day or two. Something like a sudden magical tournament he had to attend: Kaito wasn't very confident but Mrs Nakamori believed him. She said that she would be delighted to have his mother at her house: they were good friends since the day he and Aoko had met.

The door opened and a girl, still in her pyjamas, appeared. She had shoulder length dark brown hair, blue eyes and a rather annoyed look on her face.

"Kaito!" she exclaimed, "It's only half past six! What's so importa...?"

"Didn't your mother tell you anything?" the boy asked, cutting through her sentence.

"Well, she woke me up and said that you were coming. I think she told me something else too.. but I was still half asleep and didn't understand much."

"Just like Kaito." Mrs Kuroba said with a smile.

Aoko looked at her and turned red: she hadn't seen her.

"Oh.. Mrs. Kuroba!" she said, "Hello."

"Good morning, Aoko." the woman replied.

"Well, Mum will explain you then." Kaito said. He looked at her and smirked. "Nice pyjamas."

Aoko blushed and ran back inside the house. Mrs Kuroba looked at him sternly but he raised his hands with a look that 'I was only joking.'

"Bye, Mum." he said, "I'll be back soon."

Mrs Kuroba looked at him and gave him a hug. Kaito accepted it hugging her back.

"Be careful, all right?" she whispered, "Don't underestimate your enemies and don't do the mistake to overestimate your tricks." As they parted, the boy looked confused but the woman just smiled. "Go."

He nodded and walked away. As he disappeared from sight, a single tear rolled down her cheek but she hastily wiped it.

'He will come back..' she told herself, 'Toichi will be by his side..'

As for Kaito, while he walked away from Aoko's house, he kept thinking of his mother's words. Suddenly, a thought flashed in his mind: _could she know..?_

He shook his head: he didn't have time to think of it now. He had work to do.

-

Five minutes later, a police car was parked at the back of Tokyo's principal police station. Kaito was at the driver's seat... but nobody could have recognised him: he was disguised as a policeman and was wearing a mask. He looked at the rear view mirror and adjusted his cap.

"Yamato Kobe. 28 years old. Born in Tokyo on the 6/02/1977." he recited and smirked, turning to the back seats. A man was there: asleep, half naked, handcuffed and gagged.

"I'll borrow your face and identity for a while. Sorry, mate."

He got out of the car and headed to the station. He saluted an inspector and a few other agents and then, unseen to the guards, he went to the prisons. Kaito had decided to see the prisoner first and then check the chief Inspector.

He went towards the man's jail as he felt his insides seething with rage, like all the times he had been there. That man was responsible of his father's death.

He walked along a corridor: there weren't inferred cameras, so he proceeded rather calmly. His calm turned into panic when he reached the jail.

The prisoner was on the ground, his back leaning on the wall. But the thing that startled Kaito most was the growing red mark on his chest: the man had been shot at the heart and must have died immediately. But the fact that the blood stain was still increasing, meant that he had been shot recently. A dreadful thought past through his mind.

Kaito left the prisons immediately in the same way he reached them and after having calmed down, he approached one of the agent that were by guard.

"Hello." he said with a salute, "Did you see Chief Inspector Koizumi?"

"Yes, he was here ten minutes ago." the man replied, "He checked the man imprisoned in jail 3 and left shortly after."

Kaito had to use all his ability to keep a neutral face despite the horror and shock he was feeling as the truth sank in: the Inspector, the leader, had murdered the member.

He thanked the guard and left the station. He headed towards Kudo's house: the recent events and Matt's words made him hurry up.

He hoped that his four friends were ok.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, here we are."

"Check the radar."

Shiho and Rei took the small computers out of their jacket pockets and checked the radar just like Shinichi had said.

"No, nothing.." Shiho said, "He's not in the surrounding 25 kilometres."

"Well, it was expected." Ryu remarked, "We're hardly a kilometer away from our house. Rei, Vodka didn't leave while you were nearby, did he?"

"No. The car didn't move." she replied, "I checked to see if he was following me."

"We could go on this street." Shinichi suggested, "Vodka must have gone straight."

"How do you know?" Ryu asked, turning around from the driver's seat.

"Yes, he could have turned and gone back." Shiho remarked, looking at him.

"No." Rei retorted, "He's right."

The two blondes looked at her questioningly but it was Shinichi that replied.

"If we go straight, we'll come to a main road that leads out of to the suburbs and next towns." he explained, "If we go back, we'll only go to the city center."

"And considering that we are looking for their headquarter..." Rei added but she didn't have to say more. Ryu nodded and turned the car on and drove straight on. Shiho opened the computer, checking the radar. Rei did the same from the front seat.

The car went on steadily till the the main road but there wasn't any signal yet. After having made a decision, they followed the road. After 10 kilometers, Rei and Shiho yelled suddenly, startling Shinichi, who jumped, and Ryu, who nearly collided with a car next to them.

"Why the _heck_ did you do that?" Ryu asked, keeping the car on it's line.

"A signal." Rei said shortly.

"It just appeared on the screen." Shiho added.

"Where?" Shinichi asked, peering at her computer's screen.

"North-east but it's far from where we are." she replied, pointing to a small bright yellow dot right at the top of the screen.

"Well, we'll reach it." Ryu said firmly and sped off.

The signal was not moving but it was getting closer very slowly: after another 10 kilometers, there was still a good distance between them. At this point, they came to a fork.

"Which way?" Ryu asked, "Bay of Tokyo or to the suburbs? Left or right?"

"Right." the girls replied together.

Ryu nodded and turned to the right.

None of them knew what they were going against, as they chose that direction...

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It was seven o'clock and Matt was getting impatient.

The plane had landed at six o'clock and they had already wasted sixty precious minutes. The embassy had done it's work: they had landed without problems and the cars were there but they were having a few problems with the luggage they had brought from America. There were many planes at the airport and many had to fly and just as many had to land: there wasn't enough space, so the operations of unloading were going on very slowly.

Matt, Lucas and Chris were not taking part at the unloading activity: they were waiting inside the airport along with Inspectors Xanders and Knight. Matt was getting more and more irritated as the minutes passed. Only fifteen cars had been already taken out: the weapons and the other cars were still inside.

"Dad, we can't waste time in this way." Matt said, turning to his father, "While we are here, the others could be in danger. And the Organisation could have already started it's moving operation."

The man didn't reply: he looked out of the window thoughtfully. The boy was going to repeat his question, thinking that his father hadn't heard him but he stopped. Mr Xanders took out his walkie-talkie and turned it on.

_-Derek?- _he called.

A few seconds later, Inspector Morris answered.

_-Mark? What's wrong?-_

_-How are the things going there?-_

_-Damn slowly. It will take another hour or even two.-_

Mr Xanders thought this over, as though deciding what to do.

_-Derek, send five men here. I have a work for them.-_

_-All right. They will be there in a minute.-_

The call finished and Mr Xanders looked up. Matt was going to ask something but he shot him a look that plainly said 'You will see in a minute'.

Five men came a few minutes later and saluted Inspectors Xanders and Knight. Matt smiled slightly as the nodded at him. He knew them pretty well: they had been in his Dad's squad for many years.

Mr Xanders looked at them.

"Adrians, Brown, Jones, Spencer, Tyler, you will go with my son and check if our collaborators are fine and contact the local police forces." he ordered, "Scott, you will have to go too: as an inspector, you will give Matt's story more credibility. Evans, Daimon, you will go as well."

Inspector Knight nodded while Chris, Lucas and the other agents said: "Yes, sir."

At the end, the man turned to Matt.

"You are in charge of the whole operation." he said and the boy's eyes widened and the inspector smiled slightly. "I don't think anyone has something to say about it, right?"

None of the agents retorted and, neither did Inspector Knight. They all turned to Matt and saluted, waiting for orders. A small smile flickered on their faces as they saw thin red lines on the boy's face. Matt was torn between pride and embarrassment: he was proud because his father trusted him enough to be in charge of a part of the plan but he was also embarrassed because he had to give orders to men that had years of experience in FBI. Many of them had taught him and given him advice and now, _he _had to give them orders?

"I'll call you the moment we finish here." Inspector Xanders said to him, "In the meanwhile, you must find out what happened to Ryu and the others and contacted the Japanese police. When we'll see each other, we'll decide what to do."

"Yes, D.. sir." Matt replied. The man smiled and walked away. The boy turned around and faced his colleagues: he still felt a bit awkward but he quickly recovered. It was a quarter past seven: there wasn't time to waste.

"All right, we'll take three cars." he said, "Inspector Knight, Chris, Lucas and I will be in one, Spencer and Tyler in the second and Adrians, Brown and Jones in the last one. First, we'll get to Tokyo's center then, I'll tell you what to do."

The men nodded and they all walked to the airport's entrance, heading to the cars. Inspector Knight smiled as a thought passed through his mind.

'Just like his father...'

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------It was nearly a quarter to eight and Ran was hurrying because she was going to be late for school. She had accidentally turned off her alarm clock and had woken up at half past seven. She mentally groaned when she realised that she should have heard Sonoko's lecture for being late: her friend always met half way from school and she didn't like waiting... even though she was always late and made the others wait for her.

Kogoroh Mouri appeared in the living room, yawning his head off and his hair still ruffled. He had got up only because Ran had told him so and had threatened to leave him without breakfast if he didn't. At this point, the 'famous Sleeping Detective' had hastily got up and dressed. Now he was sitting in the kitchen, wearing his usual grey trousers and white shirt with a half undid tie.

Ran looked at him and smiled, sighing inwardly as she served him his breakfast.

Her father had been called for many cases in the past months but she noticed that he didn't seem able to solve them with the same brilliance he had shown before. The number of calls asking for his help were slowly decreasing.. She had supposed that he was only tired: he had been working restlessly all over Japan for nearly an year, after all. However, she did also notice that her father's lack of ability coincided with Conan's departure.

'Maybe, Conan-kun was his lucky charm when he had to solve cases..' she thought and hid a smile as she imagined what her father would have said if she told him this.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. The two Mouris looked at each other.

"Dad, do you expect someone?" Ran asked, taking off the apron from her school uniform.

"No, no one called." he replied but his face brightened, "Maybe it's a customer."

"I'll go and see." the girl said and went to door and opened it.

A man with black hair and dark eyes, wearing an orange jacket, white shirt, green tie and a orange hat, a young man with dark brown hair and dark blue eyes, wearing a grey suit, a light blue shirt and a blue tie and a young woman with short dark brown hair and amethyst eyes that wore a a light green skirt and coat over a purple top were standing at the door.

"Good morning, Ran." the first man said with a slight smile.

"Inspector Megure, Detective Takagi, Detective Satou. Good morning to you." the girl greeted, letting them in. She closed the door and called her father. Kogoroh came out of the kitchen, drinking his coffee and greeted his inspector friend jovially and told him and the two detectives to sit down.

"So, what brings you here?" Kogoroh asked, as Ran, despite the time, served the three guests a cup of coffee.

Megure arched an eyebrow.

"You should tell me since you you called." he remarked.

Kogoroh looked at him blankly.

"I didn't call you." he said.

Sato and Takagi looked at each other while Inspector Megure insisted.

"Are you joking?" he asked, "You called me at half past seven telling to come here as soon as possible. Takagi and Satou were there too so I brought them with me."

The two detectives nodded but Kogoroh still had a blank look.

"Inspector, that's impossible." Ran pitched in, "Dad got up hardly ten minutes ago: I woke him up. He couldn't have called you at half past seven: I got up at that time and he was fast asleep."

The three police officers had a blank look now.

The doorbell rang again, startling them. Ran looked at the time: it was eight o'clock. She groaned inwardly as she realised that she was late.

"I'll go and open." she said, "Dad, you'll have to sign a permission slip since I'm late."

Kogoroh mumbled a reply as the girl headed to door.

"What are _you _doing here?" Ran asked in surprise as she opened the door, recognising the two people in front of her. Her father and the three policemen turned around.

Standing by the door were none other but the Great Detective of the West and his childhood friend: they looked a bit tired but Heiji looked definitely annoyed.

"Hi, Ran." the other girl said while the boy gave her a small nod. Ran smiled and let them in wondering what was going on that morning.

The two Osaka teens greeted Kogoroh and Inspector Megure and were introduced to Satou and Takagi. When they settled down, Heiji looked around and then turned to Ran.

"Well, where is he?" he asked.

"Where is... who?" she asked in confusion.

"Kudo." Heiji replied impatiently, "He told me to come here."

At this point, everyone, except Kazuha, stared at the boy. Inspector Megure got up and faced the boy.

"Hattori-kun, would you mind to explain better?" he asked. The boy nodded.

"I got a phone call this morning at a quarter to seven. It was Kudo and he said to come urgently to Tokyo and come here at the Mouri's agency." he said, "Without even giving an explanation or giving me time to say anything."

Megure nodded and told him that they were there for a similar reason. Ran turned to Kazuha.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"Heiji wanted to get to Tokyo as soon as possible and he called my father: he had to come to Tokyo for a work, so he said that it wasn't a problem. I will never go with them by car again: we covered the distance between Osaka and Tokyo in an hour. There wasn't any traffic but Dad put the car's sirens on, so we literally flied here and all because Heiji said that it was very urgent."

"All right, but why are you here?" Ran asked again, "Were you worried for Heiji-kun?"

Kazuha blushed.

"Why should I worry for him?" she mumbled.

Ran smiled as the Osaka girl looked at the boy. Heiji didn't notice her stare because he was lost in his thoughts: he had been expecting a call from Shinichi but, according to their plans, he should have explained him what to do. Instead, on the phone, he only told him to come to Tokyo as soon as possible. Yes but, was it really Shinichi?

'Someone with Mouri-san's voice called Inspector Megure while someone with Kudo's voice called me..' he thought, 'And told us to come here at the agency.. It could be really Kudo: he's got that voice changing bow-tie but... why here? Why here at the Mouris and not at his place? And most of all.. where is he?'

Another dozen of questions flooded his mind while Inspector Megure and Kogoroh were discussing about who could have called using the detective's voice. Satou and Takagi often pitched in the discussion while Kazuha and Ran, who seemed to have forgotten school, stayed silent in a corner.

_"I can answer your questions if you want."_

The seven people in the living room hushed and looked around for the speaker but there wasn't anyone else in the room. All of a sudden, one of the glass panels behind Kogoroh's desk loosened and fell inside but instead of shattering into pieces, it fell into a crumpled pile. The panel had been removed and a transparent sheet had been put there at it's place. No one had noticed the difference.

Before anybody could move, a white cloud appeared near the window and a figure could be seen. Very slowly, the white disappeared and the figure was visible.

A young man was standing behind the desk: he was wearing a silvery-white suit with a white cloak and a white top hat. A single lens covered his right eye and a haughty smirk was plastered on his face.

Satou was the first to react at the sight of the famous thief followed by Takagi and Megure. They drew out their guns but Kid was faster: he was holding his special card-shooting gun. The three policemen were disarmed in a flash as three aces got stuck to the wall and their weapons fell to the ground. Kid then shot two cards to Heiji and Kogoroh, who were moving towards him. The two jumped back as the cards stuck to ground as though they were knives.

"I am not here to harm anybody. So, please, don't try to harm me." Kid said, "I see that you're all here.. Good..."

"So, it was _you _that called us?" Heiji remarked, "What do you want?"

"I.. well, we need your help." the other boy replied.

"Why should we help a thief or his friends?" Satou asked harshly. She wanted to pick her gun but Kid seemed to read her mind.

"I wouldn't do that, Satou-san." he stated showing his gun to her, "I told you, I'm not here to do any harm. By the way, the help I'm asking is not for me but for some common friends we have."

"Common friends?" Takagi repeated.

"Whatever. Why don't you give us a few answers then?" Heiji said, "Why are we here?"

Kid didn't reply: he looked behind his shoulder, glancing down at the street. A small smile appeared on his face.

"Well, why don't you answer?" Kogoroh asked loudly, "Why did you tell everyone here at my house?"

"It was the first place that came into my mind.." Kid said with a shrug, turning to him. The detective seemed to be fuming with rage but Ran stepped in.

"When did you come here?" she asked, surprising herself to have the nerves to talk with a famous thief, "When did you change the window?"

Kid's eyes sparkled as he lowered his hat on his face.

"Sorry but that's a secret that belongs to my vast arsenal of tricks and surprises." he answered, "By the way, Ran-san?"

"Y..yes?" the girl said, wondering how he knew her name.

"You should open the door."

"What? But no on..." Ran's words trailed off as the door bell rang for the third time. She was going to the door but Heiji stopped her.

"It could be a trap." he said firmly. Kogoroh and Megure nodded in agreement. However, Takagi and Satou looked perplexed: why should Kid lie?

The young magician sighed.

"Hattori-san, if I wanted to pull you all in a trap, I would have done it better and, surely, I wouldn't have shown myself." he remarked.

"How can we be sure we can trust you?" Megure retorted.

"I swear on my honour that who's at the door will only explain you everything." he replied.

Kogoroh, Megure and Heiji were still doubtful.

"I will open." Satou said and she walked to the door before anyone could stop her. She opened it and three strangers were there: two boys and a girl.

A boy had black hair and gray eyes, he was wearing blue jeans, a black shirt and a brown leather jacket; the other one had black hair but bright green eyes, he wore black trousers, a white shirt and a black jacket; the girl had long brown hair and hazel eyes, she was wearing black trousers, a light blue sweater and a blue jacket. She was also carrying a laptop bag.

"Is this Mouri's Detective Agency?" the green-eyed boy asked.

Satou nodded and let them in but she had the feeling that she had seen that boy before. Ran had the same sense of recognition too. The three strangers were greeted with stares and a rather embarrassing silence but they didn't bother to it. The boy that talked looked around and his serious face broke into a small smile when he saw the white-dressed boy standing by the window.

"Kid." he said, approaching him.

"Hi, Ford." the thief replied with a smile.

"Tell me that you have found them."

Kid shook his head and Matt cursed under his breath. Chris and Lucas looked at him and he immediately made the introductions.

"Chris, Luc, he's Phantom Thief Kid. He works with us, too. Kid, these are my two friends and colleagues: Christine Evans and Lucas Daimon."

In the meanwhile, the others were looking at the three new comers with an expression that was torn between confusion and bewilderment.

One because the three spoke a fluent American English but most of all, because they treated Kid as an old friend.

Heiji was the first to speak up.

"Who are you?" he asked but no one replied. Matt, Chris, Lucas and Kaito were busy talking to each other in hushed tones. Kaito was telling who the others were and what he had found out that morning. Kogoroh coughed impatiently and this made them turn around.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" he asked loudly.

"Sorry to be rude, but just who are you?" Matt asked in Japanese.

"I am the famous detective, Kogoroh Mouri." he replied boastfully.

The boy stared at him.

"Never heard before." he said. Kogoroh looked as though he was going to explode.

"YOU! HOW DO YOU DARE..?" he roared but Matt silenced him with an incinerating stare.

"We are here to talk with Inspector Megure and Heiji Hattori." he remarked.

"I am Megure." Inspector said, stepping forward, "But first tell me, who are you?"

Matt nodded and whispered something to Chris and Lucas as he put his hand in his jacket pocket.

"Matt Xanders, FBI." he said, showing his badge, "These are my colleagues Christine Evans and Lucas Daimon." Chris and Lucas nodded at them.

Heiji shot his head up the moment he heard 'FBI'.

"What happened?" he asked, "Where's Kudo?"

"I suppose you are Heiji Hattori." Matt stated, looking at him, "As for Shinichi... well, frankly, I don't know where he is. Kid checked his house and.."

"Kid? What's he got to do with this?" the Osaka teen asked in disbelief, "He's a criminal! How can you..?"

"Cut it out." Matt said shortly.

"But Hattori-kun's right." Inspector Megure pitched in, "I don't think you know but Kid is a thief. How can you trust him?"

Matt growled under his breath as he heard this.

"Listen, all of you." he said in a deadly calm voice, "I haven't come here from America to hear you ramble. Kid's a thief? Well, who the hell cares? He's helping me and my friends." The ones in front of him looked rather startled but didn't say anything: the boy's eyes were flaming. "I'm saying this only once: leave Kid alone. He's under FBI protection for this whole operation and if you don't believe a simple agent like me, you can ask the inspector that is waiting down in the car."

No one retorted.

"Why didn't the Inspector come here?" Takagi asked unexpectedly.

"I'm the only one that knows Japanese." Matt said, "Anyway, that's not important now: we don't have time to waste. Inspector Megure, Hattori, I hope you can understand English because I will only give a short explanation now."

He turned around to Chris.

"Give me the reports." he said and she opened her laptop bag and handed them to him. Matt gave two to Heiji and three to Megure. The Osaka detective opened one and read it while Satou and Kogoroh took the report Megure handed them: Kogoroh didn't even try to read it since it was in English. Megure understood a few things but Satou knew English pretty well and read it. Takagi read a bit of it, too.

"Can you give us an explanation, now?" Inspector Megure asked, "Why are we here?"

"Sure." Matt said with a nod, "More than a year ago, an operation to track down a large criminal organisation that works in America and Japan has been started. This group is called the Black Organisation. It's involved in all kinds of activities: thefts, receiving of stolen properties, corruption, murders and lots of other things. If you want some details of these activities, you can read the report."

"He's right." Satou remarked, flipping through the pages, "There are lists of criminal activities here and they started more than thirty years ago!"

"That's only a summary." Matt said, "The list is much longer: we'll give you the full account later. Anyway, going on, we managed to infiltrate an agent in the Organisation and he brought out material. It was mainly encrypted computer files but, fortunately, one of our agents is a brilliant computer scientist and managed to work them out, allowing us to have the information you are now reading. At the beginning, the ones involved in this plan were the infiltrated agent, the computer scientist, me and my father, who is a chief Inspector in FBI. Unfortunately, our plan went wrong more or less eight months ago.

The infiltrator had been discovered but instead of killing him immediately, they played with him to find out who else was working with him: our computer scientist was discovered in this way. Coming to the point, the Organisation wanted them dead and they tried to get them. The infiltrated agent had to leave America secretly not only because his life was in danger but also because the Organisation had provided elements to make him seem a traitor. The computer scientist was in danger too: I suggested her to leave America and look for our colleague. To do so, she had to feign her death. They left America in two different moments but, fortunately, they met each other here in Beika, nearly five months ago. Our scientist had come here to seek the help of an old friend of hers.

A young detective you know well: Shinichi Kudo."

"Kudo-kun is involved?" Megure asked in shock. Ran's eyes widened too. Matt went on.

"For a rather curious coincidence, Shinichi had met the Black Organisation too. He witnessed one of their activities and was fed a poison: it didn't work, though, so he decided to hide in the shadows, stalling for time. Shortly after, he came across a girl that had betrayed the Organisation and that asked his aid. They set to work together, trying to find out what they could of the Organisation. When my two friends showed up, the four of them worked together and.. well, they found out everything. At this point, however, we had to be cautious: we had to bring the Organisation down without letting them have suspicions. I was in charge of this part of the plan: I had to verify if all the criminal activities had really happened and stop with the aid of FBI. We asked Kid to join in this particular moment: he could use his amazing disguising ability to keep an eye on the member imprisoned here at Tokyo. In the meanwhile, my four friends had to wait: they were the ones that risked most, so I asked them to stay here in the shadows. Anyway, with the information they had collected and worked out, FBI has raided the Organisation's headquarter in America a few weeks ago."

"The deputy and the financial magnate.." Heiji remarked, remembering the news, "They were involved..."

"Yes, they were two of the leaders." Matt answered, "At this point, we had to hurry up to find the other headquarter: the Organisation was aware that we were looking for them, so we took all the material we could find in the raided headquarter and set to work. My friends Christine and Lucas did it. The work was going on quite slowly but, casually yesterday, we came across some startling information."

Matt stopped to catch breath and to find the right words. The room was silent: his story was shocking.

"Please, look at the last page of the report." the boy said, "That's the most recent piece of information we have and it's also the reason that brought us here to Tokyo so suddenly."

With mild curiosity and some trepidation, Heiji flipped through the pages as Kazuha and Ran approached him. Kogoroh, Inspector Megure approached Takagi and Satou as they read a report. Suddenly one of the notebooks floated in air and headed towards Kid. Seeing the others stunned expressions, the young magician shrugged.

"What?" he said, "I want to know, too."

Matt smiled despite himself but he quickly changed expression as he saw the others faces as they read the last page. Ran gasped loudly, recognising the subjects of the pictures.

"That photos show FBI's four collaborators." Matt remarked, "Ryuji Kazama, Reila Ikeda, Shinichi Kudo and Shiho Miyano."

"But.. it can't be!" Ran exclaimed. Matt turned to her, as did the others.

"Haven't we met before?" he asked but before she could reply, he went on, "Well, it doesn't matter.. Why is it impossible?"

"Kazama, Ikeda, Miyano and Shinichi go to my same school." Ran said.

"Yes, they said they were transfer students from America." Kazuha added.

Matt shook his head.

"It was all a cover." he replied, "They had to live anonymously for a while and behaving as normal high school students was the best way. But this isn't the point. As you can see, that file has a complete set of information about them. It seems that we have underestimated the Organisation's wits once again. We caught them by surprise attacking their American headquarter so they made an emergency plan in order to prevent a total downfall. We know that the Organisation's other headquarter is here at Tokyo but we haven't managed to find it. But, through this last information, we know that they are planning to move their headquarter to another site.."

"As soon as the two subjects will be found.." Heiji said, "It's written here."

"And now, I'll get to the important point." Matt remarked, "If you read the other entries, you can see that the Organisation has set a trap to capture the subjects. I tried to call Ryu and the others but they seemed to have disappeared: I think that the Organisation wants two of them but the other two will be killed." Ran and Kazuha gasped in shock. "If they have fallen in a trap, it will be a question of time for the emergency plan to start. That's why we are here."

He stepped forward and looked straight at Inspector Megure.

"Inspector, there are two hundred FBI agents at Tokyo's airport now but we are outnumbered." Matt said, "In America we faced mainly scientists, double-crossers and a few agents but they were only a minority. In this moving operation, all the members are involved and we need the local police force's help. Shinichi's work was to contact you and Hattori the moment we knew where the headquarter was but since he's not here, I'll do it. Inspector, you have to gather all your men: this must be done soon and secretly. One of the Organisation's leaders is Koji Koizumi, one of your police forces Chief Inspector." Megure, Kogoroh, Takagi, Satou and Heiji looked at him with disbelieved shock. "We have the proof of that: he has just murdered the imprisoned member that was in his police station. Kid can testify it. We know that your police station's phone lines are bugged: if the Organisation knows that we are here to get them, we'll loose the little advantage we've got on them."

Megure looked at the young boy in front of him. He was sincere: he knew that..

"All right." he said, after a while, "I will go personally and gather all the men I can find. Takagi, Satou, you two will stay with Agent Xanders: I will contact you the moment I will be ready."

"Yes, sir." the two detectives said.

"One more thing, Inspector." Matt said, "I know this might sound rude but, no offence meant, inform only the people you are sure are trustful. We learned the hard way what it means to have double-crossers on our side." Then, turning to Heiji. "Hattori, you already know what to do: remember, everything must be kept secret."

"I need a phone." the Osaka teen said and Matt tossed him his cell phone. Heiji nodded a thanks and dialled a number.

"Dad? Yeah, it's me.. Listen carefully, you have to do this..."

The boy walked to a corner of the room and went on talking. Matt turned back to Megure.

"Osaka's police will help too." he explained, "I suppose you'll contact Inspector Hattori later to discuss what to do." The man nodded.

"What will we do now?" Takagi asked.

"We'll go to the Kudo's place and see where those four are: if they are caught, the plan starts.." Matt replied, "Well, I have told you what I had to tell you... Hattori! So?"

"My father said that he wants to talk to Inspector Megure as soon as possible to combine the police forces." Heiji said, giving the phone back, "He agreed right away."

"Good. At least, we have the men now." Matt remarked. He stood there lost in his thought for a while and then, looked up.

"Inspector, once you and Inspector Hattori have gathered the men, you will have to wait. I'll call you through Detective Takagi or Detective Satou and Hattori." he said, "We will attack all together."

Megure nodded.

"Kid, you come with us." Matt remarked, "Detective Satou and Takagi, there's another car down with three agents: you can go with them since Inspector will go away with his car. Ok, we can go."

They were all going to leave when Kogoroh stopped them.

"Wait what about me?" he asked.

Matt stared at him.

"You're not involved." he said shortly.

"But you told everyone to come here!"

"Only because Kid suggested it."

"YOU...!"

Megure stepped in.

"All right, Mouri, you can come." he said, "Take your car and follow Agent Xanders with Hattori-kun."

"I'm coming too." Ran and Kazuha piped in. Kogoroh was about to retort but the fire in their eyes and the knowledge of their karate skills, made him in nod furiously. Matt shook his head in disbelief: didn't they realise that this was a damn serious operation?

"I don't care who comes as long as we hurry up." he said with a strained calm voice, "I'm just saying that you'll have to take care of yourselves and, most of all, be out of the way. Am I clear?"

Matt, Chris, Lucas, Kaito, Megure, Takagi and Satou left immediately.

Ran ran into her room and quickly got changed. She thought that it would have been uncomfortable to go around in her uniform. She was worried for Shinichi but also confused: according to what that boy had said, Shinichi had never left Japan.

Why did he lie? Why didn't he show up before?

She put her thoughts away as her father called her.

-

Ten minutes later, they were all in front of the Kudo's mansion.

A car was there and Agents Spencer and Tyler got out and approached Matt.

"No one has come out or has gone in." Tyler said, "Only an old man came here a few minutes ago. He's there."

Matt turned and saw Agase walking towards him. Everyone greeted him, besides the FBI agents that didn't know him and only nodded in respect.

"Matt, what going on?" the scientist asked.

"Professor." the boy said, "Where are Ryu, Rei, Shinichi and Shiho?"  
"What? Well, at school.. I think."

"You _think_?"

"I've just come back from a scientific convention: I haven't seen them for two days."

"Great..." Matt muttered, "That explains why you didn't answer the phone..."

"Has something happened to them?" Agase asked worried.

"I hope not." Matt replied, "Professor, do you have the house's keys?"

"Yes, I'll get them in a minute."

As Agase rushed back to his house, Matt turned to Kaito who was standing away from the others. He had to keep his identity secret: he couldn't risk, after all.

"When did you come here?" he asked.

"Around six forty." the magician replied.

"And they had already left... It's half past eight now... Where the hell did they go?"

Agase arrived with the keys and the group went inside the house. The door was locked so no one had tried to enter and the lock had not been damaged. Matt was so concerned for his friends that he forgot his initial embarrassment towards the other agents.

"We have to check around and find a clue. Agents Brown, Adrians, Tyler and Spencer, you check the first floor." he ordered, in English, "Don't mess up: only find a clue."

"Yes, sir." they replied and headed upstairs.

"We'll check here." Inspector Knight said, "Jones, Daimon, with me."

"Yes, sir."

The three headed to the living room.

"We'll help too." Satou said and Takagi nodded. Matt, Chris, Kid and Heiji set to work too while Agase, Kogoroh, Ran and Kazuha stayed on the background. Kogoroh was still fuming because Matt had told him to not interfere with their work.

Matt walked to the phone table and noticed that the plug was loose.

'That's why there wasn't any signal...' he thought, 'But why...?"

He looked around: the house was neat and in order so they didn't escape hastily but had left calmly.

"This door's is locked!" Takagi called.

The ones that were in the hallway approached the studio.

"What's inside?" Heiji asked.

"It's only full of books." Ran replied but Matt shook his head.

"They worked here, right?" he asked, turning to Agase.

"Yes." he replied.

"Do you have the key?"

"Yes, wait a minute." he searched in his pockets and drew out a brass key. He gave it to Matt and he opened the door. He turned the lights on and he heard a gasp from somewhere behind him. The studio had changed a lot from the last time Ran had seen it: it looked like an office now. There were laptops, a computer, a printer and...

"What's this?" Matt asked, walking to a desk where something like a small television put upside down was. "It's on... at least I think so."

"Oh, that's Ryu-kun's radar." Agase said and the boy nodded in understanding.

"His _what_?" Heiji asked.

"Radar." Matt said, "Ryu's a electronic engineer."

"Didn't you say he was 17?" Takagi asked.

"Ryu, Rei and Shiho have already graduated." he replied, ignoring the stunned expressions around him: only Kaito and Chris didn't react. "Rei's a computer scientist, just like Chris and Lucas, Shiho is a chemist. I'm graduated as well: I'm a lawyer. Anyway, Agase do you know how this works? I'm not an expert.."

The scientist sat down and set to work on the radar. Matt looked around: this room was in order too.

"Chris, check the computers." he said in English, "There might be something."

"All right." she replied and turned on a laptop. He turned to Kid who was looking around and approached him.

"Found something?" he asked.

"Kudo's earring phone." Kaito replied, "The battery' s low: that explains why it didn't work when you called."

"I don't if it's a coincidence or just a damn way to make me mad." Matt muttered, "We don't have a clue of where they are... and they're in danger. I wonder if they know what they're going against.."

"Why didn't you tell the others that you know who the Organisation wants?" Kid asked quietly. Matt had hidden many things during his explanation.

"I want to save them all." Matt replied firmly. Then, looking at the magician, "Say, will you come with us later?"

"Yes. My mother is safe so I don't have to worry of anything else. And, I want to help Kudo and the others too."

"A thief that wants to help a detective? It sounds so awkward."

"Don't I know.."

Agase called and Matt got to his side.

"So, have you figured it out?" he asked.

"This radar has a range of 50 kilometers and it works with Ryu-kun's devices."

"His father's devices? Can we track them down...? No, wait... they don't have devices on them." Matt said with disappointment.

"Yes, they do." Professor retorted.

"Really?"

"Yes, they all wear a chain with a star and the device is applied to it."

"Where are they, then?"

"I'm sorry but they are out of the radar's range."

"DAMN IT!" Matt cursed loudly, "That means that they are 50 kilometers away from here!" He slammed a fist against the wall.

The room went silent at young agent's outburst. Chris got up, not finding anything in the computers and approached him: she knew that his concern was overwhelming him but he had to keep a clear mind.

"Calm down, Matt." she whispered. He nodded after having taken a deep breath.

Ran noticed that there was a particular atmosphere between them.

Suddenly, a thought passed through Matt's mind.

"Why is the radar on?" he asked. As a blank silent greeted his words, he pressed on. "It was on when we got here. Why? Why did they use it?"

"Kazama must have left it on." Heiji said, thinking, " They were looking for something.. that had a device on it."

"The point is what?" Satou said, following their reasoning, "What were they looking for?"

Kid looked up suddenly.

"Matt, didn't Kudo put a device on Gin's car, once?" he asked.

"Yes.. they thought it had been Miyano and nearly killed her." he replied absently. Then, his eyes widened. "They put a device on the car!"

"That's the trap then." Heiji remarked, "The Organisation knew that they would have tried to bug the car.."

"And now, that four are looking for it." Matt finished, visibly paling, "They are falling straight in their hands."

"Ehm... wait.." Takagi said, trying to keep up with their quick deductions, "How can they follow the car with device... if the radar is here?"

Matt, Kaito and Heiji stared at him, wondering why this hadn't come in their minds before, while Satou shot an appreciative smile to Takagi who blushed.

"Good point.." Matt said.

"Oh, that's easy." Agase remarked, making them turning to him.

"You know?" Satou asked. She had seen the old scientist solve cases before (actually it was Conan..), so she wondered if he had guessed something this time, too. Matt seemed to be thinking something like that as well, but his attention went to Chris that was typing something on the laptop she had brought.

"Chris, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Just a minute.." she said, "Professor Agase can explain."

Hiding a puzzled expression, he turned to the scientist.

"What's she doing?" he asked.

"Ryu-kun has made this radar so that it could be linked to a computer." Agase replied, "I managed to explain this young lady in my not perfect English, that with a downloading program she could use the radar from her laptop."

"Ok but why did they leave it on?"

"Wait, how are they using the radar?" Kid asked, cutting through, "Their laptops are all here."

"Oh, they must have used the the computers I gave them: they are smaller than a laptop and more easy to carry." Agase replied.

"So? Why did they leave the radar on?" Matt asked again.

"Probably, the mini-computers didn't have enough space to support the whole downloading program..." the scientist stopped seeing the blank look on the others faces, "Well, if they leave it on, they can link to the radar freely and use it."

"I see." Matt said, understanding, "Then, we can still track them down."

Chris got up, closing the laptop.

"I'm done." she said to Matt, "We can use the radar from the car."

The boy nodded.

"Now, we only have to find a clue of where they went." he remarked. He walked out of the studio and called the FBI agents that were checking the house. Inspector Knight, Lucas and Agent Jones were in the hall and approached him.

"There isn't anything in the whole down floor, excluding the room you were." Knight said wearily, "All in order, not even a speck of dust!"

"Let's hope that there was something upstairs." Matt stated, "We have the means to find Ryu and the others: we only need a hint of where they are."

The other four agents came down and Matt's heart sank, seeing their faces.

"Nothing?" he asked.

"Only this." Adrians said and handed him a piece of paper.

Matt looked at it: it was bar's bill.

"A coffee bought in a bar... yesterday afternoon?" his eyes widened as he said this. Matt looked up. "This could be a start. Well done."

He turned around quickly to join the ones in the studio and missed the proud smile on the agents' faces and the knowing smile on Knight's face.

"We've got an address." Matt announced, entering the studio. He handed it to Heiji and was going to ask where the bar was, when his cellphone rang. Matt answered.

"Hello? .. Dad! Yeah, I've talked to them and they are gathering men. What about...? You're done? Great! No.. I didn't find them but.. we've got a hint. Huh? Wait a second.."Matt turned to Heiji."Is the airport far from the Bay of Tokyo?"

Heiji shook his head.

"Don't ask me." he said, "I'm from Osaka."

Takagi answered.

"No, the airport is not far from the bay." he said, "It's less than fifteen minutes by car."

"Great, thanks." Matt said and then, spoke on the phone again, "Dad? The airport's perfect.. Don't worry: I'll deal with them. See you later."

Matt put the phone away, checking the time: it was nine o'clock. Then, he looked up.

"My father said that they are all ready and will wait at the airport till Inspectors Megure and Hattori have done." he said, "I think we should all go there and then plan what to do."

"What about Kudo, Kazama, Miyano and Ikeda?" Heiji asked, "Shouldn't we find them since the whole operation will start if they are caught?"

"While we are going to the airport, we'll look for them with the radar: they have the devices, remember? As soon as we have an idea of where they are, we'll split in two groups: one will go to the Bay of Tokyo, the other will go wherever Ryu, Rei and the others are."

The group nodded in agreement.

As they were leaving the house, Matt turned to Agase.

"Professor, just in case, keep an eye on the house: maybe they will come here and our worries are totally vain.." he said, "I'll ask two agents to wait here, too."

"All right, Matt." he replied.

Five minutes later, Agase and Agents Spencer and Brown were the only ones there.

-

The following forty minutes were innervating, especially for Matt.

As he and the others, excluding Kaito who said that he would have followed them in his way, were going to the airport, they found the bar where Rei had bought a coffee. Chris had checked with the radar but they were not in sight. Well, sight is an understatement: they weren't in the range of 50 km. Takagi, however, informed Matt through a walkie-talkie that from that street they could have reached the Bay of Tokyo. The boy's hopes went slightly up: maybe Ryu, Rei, Shinichi and Shiho had somehow found out that the Organisation was planning to move its headquarter and were only trying to collect evidences. He immediately crushed that thought when he realised _who _he was talking of and, most of all, when he remembered the information he had read the day before. His temper and impatience went up when Chris' laptop's battery finished, not allowing them to use the radar. The girl had a spare battery in her bag but it was at the airport.

They reached the airport and found Inspector Megure already there with Inspector Shiratori. They were talking to Matt's father, who knew a bit of Japanese, and were deciding how they should work together. The three were in a room near the check-ins and when they saw the small group coming in, they all looked up.

"Dad." Matt said, approaching him, "How are things going?"

"We are ready and so is Inspector Megure." the man replied, "Inspector Hattori had just contacted us: he said he'll be here with his men in less than a hour."

"How many men do we have by our side?"

"There are more than a hundred FBI agents, a hundred- hundred and fifty policemen and two hundred men are coming from Osaka."

"Nearly five hundred men..."

"Our men are all waiting outside, behind the airport: we can't block the way here. Anyway, what about you? Any news?"

Matt quickly explained what they had found out till then.

"Chris will change the laptop's battery and check again." he assured, "They must be close: it's too much of a coincidence that they are so close to the transferring site."

"You're saying that the trap to capture has been set nearby?" Inspector Xanders remarked.

"Probably."

"Matt!"

The boy turned around as he heard his name. He quickly approached Chris who was sitting at a table with the laptop open in front of her.

"What?" he asked, looking at the screen and then at her. He didn't fail to notice the concerned look on her face but her words stopped him from asking.

"I found them." she replied quietly.

"Well, that's good." Heiji said in English, so that she could understand him as well, "Where are they?"

Chris pointed to the screen all the people in the room, craned their necks to look. Four bright yellow points were slowly approaching another one at the far right end of the screen.

"We need a map of this area." the Osaka teen said loudly. Megure had expected such a request and had a map with him: he promptly handed it to Heiji, who opened it and laid it on the table. With the help of Takagi and Satou who knew the city better, he located them.

"They are heading to a valley that's on the opposite side from the Bay." Satou remarked, slightly confused, "Why are they going there?"

Heiji shook his head but Matt didn't even hear her question.

He was lost in his reasoning: you could almost see the machines in his brain working furiously. He had learned that the Organisation always did things with a subtle method. If they had decided to set up a trap, it was obvious that they would have chosen a lonely, isolated area: that explained the valley. He glanced at the map: the valley was surrounded by woods. Excellent place to set up an ambush.. But now, the point was, why so far from the Bay? He remembered a sentence from the updates.

_"The operation will start as soon as the two subjects will be captured."_

Matt looked at the map, trying to find a hint. He suddenly noticed a small line that went from the valley to the bay.

"What's this?" he asked, pointing to the line.

"It's an old road." Inspector Megure said, "Hardly used nowadays."

"How big is it?" the boy asked.

" Not much." Takagi replied, "Only some kind of cars can go on that road."

"Some cars... Jeeps?" Matt asked, looking up. Takagi nodded. "Ok, now it makes sense. They set the trap there and the moment they capture the subjects, they would join the other members at the Bay, taking that road."

"By the way, we made a few researches.." Megure said, "Three ships will come to the Bay today: it seems that they have to carry material and equipment for a foreign country."

"What material?" Heiji asked, "To which country?"

Megure shook his head as Shiratori replied.

"All the information related to the ships is unknown." he said, "And nobody bothered to ask questions since a rather prominent person gave his permission for the ships' landing."

Matt raised an eyebrow.

"Let me guess.." he said, "The prominent person is Koji Koizumi." Shiratori nodded.

Matt absently ran his fingers through his hair: everything had been planned perfectly and rather simply so that no one could have noticed.

'Maybe.. if I hadn't told them to wait..' he thought, 'They would have found out this things... and they would probably be here..'

He shook his head, trying to shake off his thoughts: this wasn't the moment for regrets. Just then, he noticed that Chris was still tensed.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. The girl looked up and he noticed that she still had a worried look.

"There's another update." she replied, "I have a bad feeling..."

"Show it to me." Matt said shortly.

The room went silent as they noticed the young agent's pale face.

Chris nodded and opened the file: a short message appeared. Matt read it slowly.

"The two subjects are located. The operation can begin. They will be by our side soon."

If possible, the room went even more silent as his words sunk in.

"Damn it..." Matt whispered, voicing everyone's thoughts, "They have fallen in the trap.."

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Shinichi, Shiho, Ryu and Rei were getting close to the device applied to Gin's car.

It was nine o'clock: as Ryu had sarcastically commented while they drove, the man that had rented them the car had made a great deal. It was a miracle if it still moved, after three hours of continuous driving.

However, even with the rather old car, they were getting to the place they wanted to reach and they were all very tensed. They had come to an isolated area and it had all the characteristics of the perfect ambush place. The four were all very careful and in alarm.

The car drove on an old country road that crossed the valley and coasted the woods.

"Great... woods again.." Ryu muttered under his breath.

"We're nearly there." Rei remarked, "Do you see the car or something?"

"There isn't anything here." Shiho said, looking up from her computer and scanning the landscape, "Or anyone."

"Nearly.." Shinichi retorted, pointing to the front, "Isn't that a rooftop?"

The other three looked in front and actually saw a rooftop hidden by the thick midst of trees.

"Who lives here?" Rei asked, "This place is quite cut out from the world."

"Good question.." Shinichi remarked, looking at the map he had with him, "That house doesn't exist on the map."

"That's not reassuring.." Shiho stated, "Not at all.."

The car drove on and they finally reached a wide open space. A rather old mansion was there: it must have been inhabited because the windows were sealed or broken, the door's paint was peeling off and it was pretty run down. Ryu braked the car as soon as the house was in view. The others looked at him.

"It's an open space." he said, foreseeing their question, "We don't know what or who could be waiting us.."

"We can't leave the car." Shiho remarked, "We would be more exposed if we walked around."

"All right.." Ryu started the car and headed to the mansion but he kept close to the forest. Just then, they noticed something else.

A black Porsche was parked there.

The four looked at each other: it was too easy..

"Has anyone got the feeling of being watched?" Ryu asked quietly as he stopped in front of it.

"Where could they be?" Shinichi asked, looking around cautiously.

"There are many places." Shiho replied, "The house... but also from the trees."

"And we don't know how many they are.." Rei remarked, "If it's a trap..."

"Scratch off that if." Ryu muttered darkly.

"..we're good as dead." she finished.

"Thanks. That's really reassuring." Shinichi said sarcastically.

Ryu looked around.

Shiho was right: there were many places for a couple of trained shooters to hide. Leaving the car was a risk: they were exposed and the only place to hide was the forest.

Well, hide if it wasn't already full of armed members. He was still thinking when a sudden noise startled him: it was a soft beeping sound... that came from the car in front of them. When he attended the course with the bomb disposal experts, he learned to develop his hearing and recognise certain sounds. And that was...

"DAMN IT!" he exclaimed and abruptly started and turned the car, speeding away.

"What the heck are you doing?" Rei asked as she slammed against the window. Shiho collided into Shinichi.

An explosion behind them made them turn around in alarm. The Porsche had blown up.

"Does _that _answer your question?" Ryu remarked, turning to Rei.

"How..?" Shinichi asked, looking at the black car... or what still remained of it.

"I heard it." Ryu said, "But that's not the problem... The timer... Someone turned it on.."

"And he's here." Shiho finished, "But .. ? "

She stopped abruptly as a shiver ran down her spine: her heart started thumping.

"They're near." she whispered and Shinichi heard her. He looked around wildly.

'Where?' he thought furiously, 'Where are..?'

He noticed something on the high branch of a tree in front of them. It was a small light.. no... it was like the sun reflected on a glass and there was a small black tube-like object coming out of a clump of leaves under it. He didn't even have to think to realise what was going to happen.

_"OUT!"_ he yelled, "OUT OF THE CAR!"

Shinichi took Shiho's hand, opened the car's door and jumped out with her. They rolled on themselves to soften their fall: Shinichi had put his arms around Shiho to protect her. Ryu and Rei jumped out of the car a second later: Rei rolled next to Shinichi and Shiho but Ryu was on the other side. However, as he was jumping out, he looked up and saw everything as though it was in slow motion.

A man was hiding behind a clump of leaves on the high branch of the tree in front of them: he had a rifle with silencer and rifle scope. As he crashed on the ground, Ryu saw a bullet shatter the car's front glass and another hit the driver's seat: if he had been there, he would be already dead. But he didn't have to rejoice yet: despite the others, he was completely exposed. Without wasting time, Ryu straightened up and drew out his automatic. He fired twice towards the branch and then ran to join the others. Whoever was up there mustn't have expected such a quick reaction and the boy was counting on that: he was sure that the man was shielding himself behind the trunk.

This gave them time to escape.

"Come on!" he urged as he reached Shinichi and the girls, who were getting up, "In the woods! Quick!"

He didn't have to say this twice.

The four dashed into the thick vegetation, getting out of sight.

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The man clad in black quickly stepped behind, balancing on another branch and using the tree's trunk as a shield. He had heard that Martini was good but this was unbelievable: how he had jumped out of the car, taken out his gun, aimed and fired in less than five seconds was beyond him. And he had also avoided the bomb but that was more understandable..

However, when he looked back down Martini and the other three were not there.

"Damn it!" he cursed as a scowl appeared on his face: they had escaped from him. He pulled out a transceiver from his pocket.

-They have escaped into the forest.- he said to an unknown person.

_-Wait there. The others will deal with them.-_

-Yes, sir.-

The man put the transceiver away and was visibly tensed: he had let the subjects slip out of his hands. The orders had been clear: no mistakes.

He had to hope that the others would have captured them, otherwise he would have been the first to be punished.

The man actually shivered, remembering what had happened to other people that had gone through a punishment.

None were alive to tell it.

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Inspector Xanders was in Inspector Megure's car with other two agents.

All the men were in their cars too, waiting. The man took a deep breath and took his walkie-talkie: he knew that his men as well as Megure's had one so they could hear him.

_-For more than thirty years, the underground criminal group called Black Organisation has killed, murdered and done the most vile activities.-_ he said. He spoke in English since he had found out that many of the Japanese police officers knew the language well.

_-Today we are going to bring it down. I won't lie: it will be hard and many will be injured or worse, die. But this is something we have chosen. The day we decided to become police officers, we chose to be on the "Good" side and to prevent and defeat the evil one. I don't know what was the reason of your choice but mine was very simple: I didn't want my son to live in a bad world. I suppose many of you have families: you probably chose this work to protect them. If you are all here, it means that your sense of justice has prevailed on fear because no one has been forced to come. You... We are all here because we want to. So, FBI men and Tokyo's policemen, here we are to do our work side by side. Let's get rid of the Black Organisation.-_

Mr Xanders words were greeted by a roaring and firm: _-YES, SIR.-_

The FBI Inspector turned to his Japanese colleague.

"So, Inspector Megure.." he said, speaking a bit slower because the man had asked him to do so, "We can go to the Bay of Tokyo."

"Of course." Megure replied and he started the car. A beeline of more than a hundred cars left the airport, heading to the Bay.

As he looked out of the window, Mr Xanders' thoughts went to his son.

'Matt, whatever you do, be careful.' he thought, 'And save your friends.'

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Ten cars were speeding the opposite direction from the Bay of Tokyo.

Inside were the people that had to find Shinichi Kudo, Shiho Miyano, Ryuji Kazama and Reila Ikeda.

Matt, Chris were in a car; Detectives Satou and Takagi were in another with two agents. Agents Adrians and Tyler, Heiji, Kazuha and Ran were in another. In the other seven cars, there were more than thirty men between FBI agents and Japanese policemen. All the men had to take orders from Matt. Kid was there too: he had decided to follow them with his hang glider.

Speaking of Matt, the boy was incredibly tensed.

Not only because he had to guide all these men in a place where he didn't know anything, but also because their lives were somehow in his hands. He had tried to convince Chris to go with the other group as computer scientist instead of Lucas but she had refused. Matt had a liking on her and he didn't want her to risk her life in such a unsure mission. He had also retorted in bringing Ran and Kazuha: the two girls weren't trained to face a member of the Organisation but they had managed to find a way to come anyway. Matt had asked Agents Adrians and Tyler to be always by their side. Detective Satou and Takagi had volunteered to go with him: Takagi knew Shinichi and Satou had heard of the famous Great detective of the East and they both wanted to help him and his friends. Heiji was there for the same reason. Kazuha didn't want to leave Heiji alone and Ran wanted to see if Shinichi was fine. Kogoroh had protested but his daughter was stubborn and had managed to go nevertheless: Kogoroh went with Inspector Megure, instead.

Matt glanced at Chris.

"Is it still far?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the street.

"Twenty kilometers, more or less." she replied, looking at the radar. The boy sighed slightly.

"We'll find them." she said softly, "Ryu and Rei are not fools: they know what to do. And, from what I've heard, Kudo and Miyano are just as good."

"Yeah." he said, "I just hope we'll be there before it's too late.."

The car sped on, followed by the other nine.

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Chapter 23 is finished! I hope you liked it and didn't get confused from the frequent changes. At the beginning, I didn't plan this chapter but then, I realised that I hadn't given great importance to the characters of Matt and Kid, even though they were involved in the famous plan. So, I wrote this. The next chapters will be chaotic and I'm still figuring out how I'll put everything together..

Really, at the beginning I thought I'd get the story finished in a few long chapters but as time goes on, I realise that more and more stuff comes out! I'll have to clear my mind a bit...

Anyway, I've also uploaded the last two chapters again because I made a few mistakes.

REVIEW!

Bye!

A.N: I've made all corrections


	26. Dealing with the Organisation A

Four points of the same star.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Detective Conan.

-...- transceiver talk

A.N: Corrections made

FOUR POINTS OF THES SAME STAR Chapter 24: Dealing with the Organisation (A)

Four figures were running in the woods as fast as possible.

There wasn't a path to follow so they just ran among the trees, hoping that no one was following them. They stopped only five minutes later when they found a group of trees and bushes that created a kind of thick wall. They hid there behind the trunks for a while, catching their breath.

"Rei.." Ryu said as he took a few deep breaths, "Use... your... glasses."

The girl nodded and put on her X-ray glasses: she looked around for a few minutes and then took them off.

"No one.. in the range of 20 meters." she said. Then, looking at the others, "What are we going to do?"

"Good question..." Shinichi said, sliding to the ground with his back still on the tree trunk, "We are in a great mess."

"I think that 'mess' is an understatement." Shiho remarked, as she sat on the ground, too, "They were waiting for us: they knew that we would have come here."

"The car.." Ryu said, "Yesterday, Vodka was waiting for us: he knew that we would have done something."

"Then, he probably recognised me." Rei stated, "But he let me go just to catch the four of us instead of just one."

"It was a trap and we fell in it completely." Shinichi said, "It's already a miracle if we didn't blow up before. And all thanks to you, Ryu."

"You know something?" the blonde boy remarked, "That explosion was only a demonstration: I realised it only now. If that man wanted to kill us, he could have fired at our car: one shot to the fuel tank or the engine and we were history without even understanding what had happened. I don't even know if he wanted to kill us."

"Well, he fired at you, Ryu." Shiho said, "If Shinichi hadn't noticed him in front of us, you would have been shot."

"That's the point.. it's all so.. unclear." Ryu pressed on, "Why drag us here just to kill us? If they knew that we four are together and that we are in Beika, they could have caught us there. Why put up such a play with Vodka waiting in the car?"

"You've got a point." Rei remarked, "But there's also another fact: they had foreseen all our actions. They knew that we would have put a device on the car and that we would have followed them."

"They probably know us better than we thought." Shinichi said.

They stayed in silence for a while digesting what they had just discovered.

"So, what are we going to do now?" the detective asked, "We can't stay here forever."

"There was only one man there." Ryu said, "If there had been someone else, we would have been shot. This is reassuring from a point of view but also dreadful from another."

"There could be other men hidden in this forest. It was the most obvious of things that we would have sheltered here if we escaped." Rei remarked, following his reasoning, "God knows how many men could here though.."

"What's so good of only one man being near the house? Shiho asked.

"He could follow us." Ryu explained, "If he leaves his position, we still have the chance to get to the car and leave. Well, unless.."

He didn't finish his sentence because an explosion shattered the silence. Ryu cursed under his breath.

"Unless, he decides to blow up our car as well." Shinichi said, "Plan B?"

"Let me think of it. I was confiding on Plan A."

Rei suddenly hushed them with her hand. As they looked at her, she put her finger on her lips, asking for silence and then pointed to her left. They heard the sound of distant approaching footsteps. The four crouched behind the bushes as much as they could.

"We must get away." Ryu whispered, hardly moving his lips.

"Why?" Rei whispered back, "We could stun them. Both you and I have the revolvers with hypodermic bullets."

"We can't: our guns don't have silencers. I have already revealed our presence, firing before; if we do it now, we'll reveal our position.." Ryu frowned. "I'm sure that all the members have silencers applied to their guns. We are the only ones without them: if we shoot, they will know it's us. It's the only way they have to find us in this maze of trees."

"And we don't know how many are coming." Shiho added softly.

"So, how do we get away?" Shinichi asked, keeping his voice low.

They turned around to see if there was a way to follow so that they could escape but there wasn't one. There were no paths but only a thick forest of tall trees and clumps of bushes. The footsteps were getting closer too. Ryu, Rei, Shinichi and Shiho looked at each other: they had to take a decision. And they had to take it quickly.

They began to talk in low voices.

"Well, the only way to get out of this situation is to distract them." Rei said.

"A decoy?" Shinichi asked and she nodded.

"That could be an idea but... it's risky, especially for the decoy." Ryu remarked, "I think we should split in two groups."

"This would force the ones that follow us to split too." Shiho stated, "But wouldn't that be risky as well?"

"We don't know if they want us alive or dead." Shinichi said, thoughtfully, "Shiho might be right."

"We can't go and ask them, can we?" Ryu retorted, "And consider that we are an easy target if we go around all together. We can be seen easily. If we split in groups of two, we have more chances to hide. This thick forest can give us a bit of advantage."

"We just have to hope that there aren't many of them around." Rei remarked, "In couples and without guns, we are definitely outnumbered and disarmed."

They hushed suddenly as they heard the footsteps get closer. They didn't speak till they were sure they were far from them.

"Let's trust our skills and our luck.." Ryu muttered. Then, looking up, he spoke in a firmer tone. "So, our main objective is to get out of the woods and try to reach a road. Once out, we have to contact the police: it's the only thing we can do... If only we had called Matt to tell him what were doing.."

"He would have fled here with all the FBI men right away." Rei completed with a small smile, "Well, it's not time for regrets."

"Which way should we go?" Shiho asked. Shinichi drew out the map he had hastily stuffed in his pocket, and opened it.

"There are two ways to get to the road." he said, scanning it, "This way, at the east... ehm.. that leads to the road we have come from and then... there's this one. It's a small road, at the west, and.. ehm.. it seems to lead to.. the Bay of Tokyo. Anyway, it's quite a walk for both."

"That's the thing that worries me least." Ryu commented, "We'll keep in contact with the transceivers: Rei, Shinichi and I with the glasses; Shiho, you'll use the earring phone. Another thing, use the guns only if it's really necessary. Any questions?"

No one said anything.

"All right.." he said and then, turning to Shinichi and Shiho, "Which way will you two go?"

"East." he replied, turning to Shiho who nodded in agreement.

"That leaves west to us." Ryu remarked, turning to Rei.

"Ok." she said.

It was all decided but they didn't move. What they were going to do was dangerous and they all had a strange feeling: they looked at each other for a moment.

"We'll make it." Shinichi said with his usual determined tone, "As always."

"Sure." Rei remarked, "We'll see each other later."

"All in one piece." Ryu added.

"And unharmed." Shiho said.

They didn't believe completely their words but nevertheless they gave them a bit more of courage.

"We'll go first." Rei said. She turned to Shinichi and Shiho. "Good luck and be careful."

"Very careful." Ryu remarked, "Don't get involved in a frontal encounter unless it's necessary."

"Same for you." Shiho stated.

"Take care." Shinichi said.

Ryu and Rei gave them a small smile. The girl put on her X-ray glasses.

"No one in sight." she said.

"Let's go." Ryu remarked, "You two, leave a few minutes after us."

They slowly got up and cautiously walked to the other side of the thick tree wall they had been sheltered. Before disappearing from sight, they turned to their friends one last time and gave them a reassuring nod.

Five minutes later, Shinichi and Shiho got up from their hideout and headed to the opposite direction.

The had a plan and needed to execute it... without executing themselves.

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"_What?_"

"It just happened."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

Matt was looking at Chris with confusion.

"Wait a minute... " he said slowly, "You are saying that the first point.. the device that was applied by Ryu and the others, has _disappeared_ from the screen?"

"Yes." the girl replied impatiently.

"How? I mean.. Is it possible?"

"Don't ask me. I haven't got the slightest idea of how it happened. They must have found the device and destroyed it."

"That's not good news..." Matt remarked darkly, "By the way, what about the others?"

"After the first point disappeared, the other four moved quickly towards south-east and..."

"And?"

"They disappeared from the screen. We have to get closer to the first device's location, otherwise I can't identify their direction."

"Let's hurry then."

Matt sped away, followed by the other cars. Chris, on the other hand never took her eyes of the laptop's screen. Ten minutes later, she spoke to Matt again.

"They're visible again." she said, "But.. there's something..."

"What?" Matt asked, trying to look at her and the street at the same time. "What's wrong?"

"They've been moving fast for a while but now... They're still."

"Still? You don't think, they're..?"

"No! They hardly move as though they were hiding... I think."

"Hiding?" Matt asked. He then, took his walkie-talkie.

_-Detective Takagi, Detective Satou. Agent Xanders, speaking.- _Matt said, in Japanese.

_-Agent Xanders ? . - _Takagi replied, _-Something wrong?-_

_-Did you bring the map with you?-_

_-No, I got it.-_

_-Hattori?-_

_-Yeah, what's going on?-_

Matt quickly explained the story of the disappearing device and the strange attitude of Ryu, Shinichi, Rei and Shiho.

_-Coming to the point..- _he said, _-That area is coasted by woods, right?-_

_-Yes.- Heiji replied, -You think Kudo and the others are hiding there?-_

_-Probably.-_

_-We're nearly there.- _Satou remarked, _-We'll find out soon.-_

_-Ok. Hear you later.- _Matt said and turned off the transceiver.

"How much to that place?" he asked Chris.

"Another ten kilometres." she replied and turned her laptop off. A slight smile appeared on her face as she saw the look on the boy's face.

"What the hell are you..?" he started to ask loudly but she cut through her sentence.

"The battery." she said shortly.

"Oh.." he replied and a small blush crept on his cheeks. Chris smirked slightly.

The line of cars sped on.

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Ryu and Rei were walking slowly among the trees, careful not to make a sound, stepping on a twig or else.

There was an odd silence around them. They didn't hear anything: it was all absolutely quiet. Rei could swear she heard her heart beating as she walked.

"They have chosen a nice place, huh?" Ryu whispered, understanding how she felt.

"It's so.. eerie in here." she replied softly. She put away her X-ray sunglasses. Ryu noticed a strange glint in her eyes, hidden slightly by the cap: it was fear but also concern. He slowly reached for her hand. Rei looked up at him when she felt his hand squeeze hers.

"We'll make it." he whispered reassuringly, "And Shinichi and Shiho will be fine too."

"I hope so." she answered in a low voice.

They went on walking, hiding in the shadows, still hand in the hand as though that physical contact could give them a bit of comfort. After a while, they hadn't heard or seen anyone and they didn't know whether it was a good sign or a bad one. They knew enough about the Organisation to know that they could never let there guard down.

And thanks God they didn't...

Five minutes later, they were walking near a large chestnut tree and Rei was a few steps in front of Ryu. Suddenly, he pulled her behind and stepped back too.

"What the...?" Rei said.

"Look there." he whispered. The girl followed his stare and looked at the ground. Hidden under dead leaves and earth, was a rope tied as a loop. How Ryu had noticed it was beyond her reckoning but she realised that if he hadn't pulled her back, she would have put her foot in it.

"A trap." she said softly and Ryu nodded. Then, he walked to a bush nearby and checked it and a few seconds later, a small grim smile appeared on his face and he gestured her to approach him. Rei joined him and looked at the bush and her eyes widened slightly.

A crossbow, balanced on two thick sticks, that were planted to the ground and worked as a stand, was hidden there and the rope was tied to it's trigger. She gulped realising how that deadly mechanism worked: one puts his foot in the loop, moves it or shakes it to get rid of the rope and the arrow hits him. No way to escape from such a short distance: not even with excellent reflexes.

"If it wasn't for you, I could have died.." she stated.

"No. This mechanism was not meant to kill." Ryu replied darkly, "See how the crossbow's positioned on the sticks? It's angle? The arrow would have hit only the lower part of the body: waist or legs... depends on the person's height."

"So, it seems that they want us alive.." Rei remarked, "Unless, this was just a way to capture one of us and finish us in a second moment. If you are hit by an arrow, with the blood loss and pain, you can't go very far, could you?"

"We have to inform the others." Ryu said and clicked the right side of his glasses.

_-Shinichi.- _he called, _-Shinichi, do you hear me?-_

_-Ryu? What's wrong?- _the reply came a few seconds later.

_-Listen carefully. There are traps hidden around: we just found one.-_

_-WHAT? You're not hurt, are you?-_

_-No, we're fine. Have you met anyone?- _

_-Not a living soul.-_

_-All right. Be careful.-_

_-You too. Bye.-_

Ryu turned to Rei.

"Let's go on." he said and she nodded. They walked side by side, feeling as though everything around them had eyes and was watching them.

Everything could be a menace.

-

Shinichi turned to Shiho, who had heard every word of his talk with Ryu.

"What do you think?" he asked, putting his glasses away.

"It's strange." she commented, "If not unnatural.."

"Yes, why set up traps?" he wondered, "Have they ever done something like this before?"

"Not that I know or remember." Shiho frowned. "That means that they have been planning this for a long time: they have set up this trap for us in all the details."

"Let's go." Shinichi said, "The quicker we leave this place, the better it will be."

Shiho nodded and followed him through the midst of trees.

Her heart began to pound harder and harder as the seconds passed. The dreading feeling of fear and paranoia that had been taunting since her childhood, was slowly overwhelming her. She had nearly forgotten what it meant to feel like that: in the past months, new feelings had filled her life. Friendship, brotherly and family affection, love.. All feelings she had rarely felt before and that had slowly healed the wounds of her heart. The last ten months had been better than her entire life in the Organisation. The same Organisation she had hoped to have escaped. It was a naive thought. She had always known that they would have never left her alone.

Like the times she got up in the middle of the night, when she was Ai, sweating and breathing heavily after another nightmare where Gin threatened to kill her and the ones close to her.

Gin... the man with the cruel smile and icy stare that had taunted her for.. how long? Years... Many uncomfortable, mirthless, fearful years spent in the Organisation.

As a result of that, once having betrayed them, Shiho had spent months living in fear. The simplest things could scare her. The creak of a door, the revving engine of a passing car, tires screeching to a stop, footsteps behind her lone figure.. All these things apparently unoffensive, lead her to think of the worst: gunshots, screams, darkness, Gin and Vodka killing or willing to kill someone. She knew them better than anyone else: she knew how they killed and she knew that guilt or pity were words of which they didn't know the meaning. They liked killing: watching the established victim's terrified face as the gun was drawn out and loaded, hearing the victim's pleas and it's last struggling breath as the bullet hit a vital organ and blood soaked it's clothes.

Guilt and pity were only emotions and were practically useless for black hearted murderers like them. All the high members are like that. She had heard enough of Vermouth to know that she was just like Gin or maybe even worse. And then, there was Shuichi. He had not been like that at the beginning... at least that was what she thought, but afterwards... Shiho wanted to forget them... even though she knew it was a vain effort. The Organisation would haunt her for the rest of her life.

And now she was so close to them...

_"Shiho? Hey, Shiho!"_

The blonde girl snapped out of her thoughts and looked up. Shinichi was standing in front of her and was clearly concerned. He took her by the shoulders and shook her lightly.

"Shiho!" he said again, "What's wrong? Why did you stop?"

"What?" she asked feebly. Then, she understood what he meant: lost in the midst of her thoughts, she had stopped walking. Shinichi bent down to look at her straight in the eyes, hidden by her cap.

"Are you all right?" he asked softly. It was the third time that he asked her that question since he noticed that she wasn't by his side and hoped that he would have received an answer. Shiho stared at him with an emotionless expression but her eyes couldn't hide her inner feelings. Shinichi could see fear flash in her light blue orbs: the same fear he had seen when they tried to track Pisco at the memorial of the famous film-maker and she confessed him her current nightmare where Gin would force her to see him murder the ones close to her: Agase, the three Detective Boys and him. One by one, they fell only because they knew her.

"Maybe it would have been better, if I died in that gas chamber.." Ai had murmured that day and he had slipped his glasses on her face to give her a bit of confidence.

What could he do now to comfort her in someway?

"Shiho?" he said again and this time, the girl looked up.

"It was nothing." she replied, as her bangs hid her eyes, "Really.. don't worry."

'Typical answer.' Shinichi thought, "Typical of you..'

"Let's.. let's go on." Shiho said, moving forward, feeling uncomfortable under his piercing gaze, "We can't waste ti..."

She didn't finish her sentence as Shinichi grabbed her hand, stopping her. Before she could realise what was going on, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her, giving her a warm, comforting hug. Shiho blushed furiously as her cap fell to the ground.

"Sh.. Shinichi." she stammered, "What are you..?"

"I won't let anything happen to you." he whispered softly in her ear, taking her aback and making her blush more. Shiho looked up at him and noticed a few thin red lines on his face as well along with a small smile. He had understood how she felt.. just like that time during the memorial, like the day of the bus-jack.

"Really?" she asked tentatively.

"I made you a promise, remember? I swear that I'll keep it."

Shiho smiled slightly. He was like that: optimist, determined and maybe even naive but somehow, he always gave her a shred of confidence and hope.

"Thanks, Shinichi." she whispered and buried her face into his chest, enjoying his warmth. They stayed in that position for while and when they finally parted, Shinichi and Shiho looked at each other.

"Shall we go?" he asked.

"Yes." she replied, picking her cap and putting it on.

They walked together, side by side, both acknowledging the danger they might be going against but feeling calmer than before... as though feeling more confident..

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Five cars were driving slowly on an old dirty road.

_-Whose house is that?- _Matt asked, looking at the building a hundred meters or so, away from him.

_-It's not on the map.- _Heiji remarked.

_-What?-_

_-It's an old mansion inhabited for decades.- _Satou explained, _-I thought it had been demolished..-_

_-Well, I might be paranoid but.. I don't like it. Everyone keep your eyes open.-_

Matt put the walkie-talkie away. He had ordered the other five cars to go and block the road that connected the bay of Tokyo to the valley and also the main road they had just followed. As soon as Osaka's police forces had arrived, more men would have been sent to help them. Till then, they had to go on with what they had: Matt, Chris, Satou, Takagi, Heiji, Ran, Kazuha, Agents Tyler and Adrians and twelve men between FBI and local police. Plus, Kaitou Kid who flew above them. They had just arrived to the spot where the first device had been.

"Chris, why don't you check the radar?" Matt said, "We must know where the others are."

The girl nodded and turned on the laptop as the boy drove the car towards the mansion: they were the first of the line of cars. As the house was in sight, Matt's eyes widened.

"Oh, holy.." he said in a tone that made Chris look up. Her eyes widened in shock too.

A car.. or at least what had to be one, was in front them.

There were glass pieces scattered all around along with metallic fragments and there were lines of smoke puffing out from the car's carbonized remains. Matt had registered these details at a first look. He was willing to stop but a shout startled him while he was slowing down.

_-MATT! LOOK OUT!-_

The boy had only the time to recognise the voice before the front glass shattered to pieces. Chris screamed and he abruptly turned the car but he didn't seem to control it well. Chris' window shattered to pieces a few seconds later and the car did a 360 degree turn as Matt was furiously trying to keep it steady on the uneven ground. He pushed the brakes but it was useless: they were heading at full speed against a tree. In an attempt to save themselves since Matt's efforts on the steering wheel seemed vain, Chris pulled the handbrake. The car skidded to a halt and the tires screeched but it kept moving for the force of inertia and the car's speed: Matt and Chris didn't fly out only because they had their belts on. Anyway, the car came to a stop a few inches away from a tree.

For a whole minute, Matt sat there as though frozen. He was slowly taking in what had just happened and his heart was beating at a speed he didn't think was possible. Suddenly, he turned to his right in alarm as he remembered that a bullet had shattered the window by Chris' side.

The girl was holding the closed laptop tight at her chest, her eyes closed and glass pieces on her clothes, but she wasn't moving. Matt felt his heartbeats' speed increasing once again as he saw that a bullet had hit the laptop at the back. If it had passed through..

"Chris?" he said, shaking her slightly, "Come on.. answer me... please."

She slowly opened her eyes and turned to him. Matt smiled in relief as she did so.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes." she replied slowly. Her face was very pale. "What exactly happened?"

"An ambush." he remarked, "A shooter was waiting here." Matt ran his fingers through his hair, "It was a narrow escape..."

"Yes." Chris said, reaching for the door, "Let's get out. The others will be worried."

"Ok." he replied and they got out of the car.

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Kaito was flying on his hang-glider, occasionally looking down at the short line of cars and listening to the conversations through transceivers but most of all, he looked around, seeing if there was anything strange to notify to Matt.

He felt nervous, very nervous.

The Organisation had chosen an isolated area to set up their trap: there wasn't a house for miles. The only building was the old inhabited mansion that was further on. Kaito thought that it would have been the perfect place to set a horror or ghost movie. It was creepy..

The young magician was thinking of this when he noticed that the road finished in a wide open space right in front of the house. His eyes widened when he saw the rest. The charred remains of a car... no, _two _cars were there, right under him. Matt must have noticed them too because his car, the first of the line, was slowing down next to one of smoking masses. Kaito steered his hang-glider to get down when he noticed a sudden movement from a tree below him.

A man clad in black was hiding among the leaves of a tree parallel to Matt's position: he was crouched on a branch and was loading a rifle. To Kaito's horror, he pointed the weapon straight at Matt's car. Without wasting time, he reached for the walkie-talkie, keeping in balance with one hand.

_-MATT! LOOK OUT!- _he hollered and then steered the hang-glider down towards the man. As he was diving at top speed, Kaito saw the man aim at Matt's car's; without wasting time, he took his special gun and shot a card down to him. The man started, not expecting an interference, but managed to shoot twice even though rather randomly. The man looked up and an expression of shock appeared on his face as he saw the hang-glider charging towards him. It took him a few moments to put his thoughts together and aim the rifle but Kaito was faster: he shot two cards towards the man, disarming him. The rifle fell to the ground and the man stepped back, loosing his balance and fell off the branch. Kaito pulled the rope on his suit and the hang-glider folded slightly behind his back and he went after the man. A few meters from the ground, he managed to grab him and slowed down their fall, opening the hang-glider wide open again. As soon as he reached the ground, Kaito drew out a rope and tied the struggling man enabling him to move or escape. The boy's attention then went to Matt.

He saw the car go berserk, turning in circles and close to crash into a tree but, much to his relief, it stopped a few inches from it. A couple of minutes later, Matt and Christine got out, both pale and clearly still shocked but alive and unharmed.

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Detective Satou, Takagi, Heiji, Ran, Kazuha and all the agents rushed out of their cars to check if Agents Xanders and Evans were fine.

They crowded them as soon as they got out of the car.

"Are you all right?" Takagi asked, "You're not injured, are you?"

The others made similar questions too but Matt didn't even listen to them. He looked around.

"Where's Kid?" he asked.

"Here."

Everyone turned around and saw the magician behind them, leading a struggling man in front of him. Matt approached him and stared at the man and then at the boy at his left.

"Was it him..?" he asked. Kid nodded and handed him the rifle.

"I've already disabled his transceiver." he remarked.

"Well, let's see this..." Matt said, taking the weapon to check it out, "Assault rifle with precision rifle scope and silencer, bullets calibre 8. A deadly weapon.."

He glanced at the man of the Organisation and aimed the rifle at him. All the people around him, besides Kaito and Chris, looked at Matt with shock.

"Where are they?" Matt asked in a very cool voice.

The man merely sneered at him, even though he struggled to free himself from the ropes that bound his wrists.

"I don't think you've understood your situation.." Matt remarked, still pointing the weapon at him, "You are not in the condition to refuse to answer. _Where are they?"_

"I don't know what the hell you.." the cocky reply died in his mouth when he saw Matt load the gun. A fearful expression appeared on his face for a few seconds.

Heiji was going to stop Matt but Chris held out her hand, blocking him.

"He knows what he's doing." she whispered, "Let him do."

Heiji nodded and the others looked at the young FBI agent with trepidation.

"This is not a question but an order: tell me where are they." Matt's tone was icy.

"You won't dare to fire." the man said, "No FBI man would.." He stopped when he heard a familiar muffled sound and he felt something graze his right cheek. The man turned white as he saw a thin line of smoke coming out of the rifle's cane.

"Where are they?" Matt asked again, "Next time you won't be so lucky.."

"The... they entered the woods." he stammered, "I don't know anything else."

"Who are you?"

"Cognac." Matt smirked.

"So, _Cognac_, how many are here?"

The man turned silent. Matt was loosing his patience: he loaded the gun again.

"How many other members are here?" he asked harshly.

"Twenty agents and a group of high agents."

"Give me their names and explain what's going on here."

The man began to speak slowly, eyeing the rifle pointed at him.

The trap was going to be revealed..

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"There's a problem."

Ryu turned around.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"The glasses' battery is low." Rei said, holding her sunglasses, "I can't use them any more otherwise, the transceiver will be enabled too."

"All right." he remarked, "You only have that transceiver: if it doesn't work, you can't keep in contact with us."

She nodded and put the glasses away. They walked in silence for a while until Rei realised that there was a hidden message in Ryu's previous statement.

"Ryu?"

"Huh?" he said, turning to her.

"Do you think we'll have to split?"

"What?"

"Your sentence before.."

Ryu looked at her: she had understood. He sighed.

"I'm worried, Rei." he said, "I don't understand what the Organisation wants. That man could have killed us but he didn't: he shot at the front mirror and not at the engine. It seemed that they want us alive but then, we find the traps. This seems to mean that they want us dead but the traps are set in a way that will only hurt. Then, add the fact that there are men roaming around and fully armed. I'm only getting confused. What do they want? Kill us or spare us for some unknown reason?"

"You're right." she agreed, "But.. why should we split?"

"I'm not saying that we should but... I don't know!" he replied in exasperation but he slowly calmed down. He turned to Rei who looked at him. "If something happens, Rei, you..."

The girl's gaze left his face for a second but it was enough.

She saw a figure a dozen of meters behind Ryu: without saying anything, she grabbed his hand and they both hid behind some tree trunks.

"How many..?" Ryu asked, understanding right away.

"I saw one but..." she slipped her glasses on and clicked the small button that was on it's right side. Her visual was dark and a bright green grill appeared: she saw six glowing shadows moving in front of her.

"Six." she whispered slowly, putting the glasses away, "I don't know if they have seen us but..."

"They are surrounding us.." he finished, "They must have noticed me... but maybe not you."

"What do you mean?" she asked, "Ryu.. you're not.."

They froze as they heard approaching footsteps. Ryu crouched down and forced Rei to do the same.

"Rei, listen to me." he whispered, "I'll keep them busy, you go on."

"No." she replied firmly.

"This is _not_ the moment to argue." he said through gritted teeth, "One of us has to reach the western road: we can't count only on Shinichi and Shiho. They could have encountered men of the Organisation like us. They could be in trouble, too. If none of us leaves this damn forest, we'll all die trying to do it."

Ryu's words hit deep and Rei couldn't retort.

"I'll try to distract them." he continued, "You go ahead."

"Ryu, there are six of them." Rei said, "How can you even think of facing them?"

"We'd be outnumbered if we both faced them, too. It's the only thing to do."

He looked at her and saw concern and fear in her eyes.

"I'll take care of myself." he remarked, "It's different form last time: I'm fully protected. Trust me."

A weak smile appeared on Rei's face.

"Who else can I trust if I don't trust you?" she asked, "What will you do?"

"I'll show myself for a few seconds till they see me." he stated, "I'll go back from where we've come. You rush away." Rei nodded. Ryu took a deep breath.

"Whatever you hear, go ahead. Don't look back." he said, slowly getting up. Rei stopped him, grabbing his hand. Ryu looked at her quizzically but she didn't say anything.

She just cupped his cheek and pressed her lips gently on his. She pulled away a few moments later.

"Promise me that you will be careful." she whispered.

"I will." he replied, "But you have to be careful too."

She nodded.

"Ready?" Ryu asked, lowering his cap on his eyes.

"Yes." Rei replied.

"See you later." he said and jumped out of their hideout.

Rei stayed still: she heard a few shouts, quick approaching steps, all heavy threads, probably men, and then muffled gun shots.

'God, let him be fine...' she thought desperately. When she was sure that Ryu and his followers were far from her, she stepped out of her hideout and ran the opposite direction.

She ran as fast as she could for ten good minutes. She then stopped and leaned on a tree, gasping for air. After a couple of deep breaths, she looked around: she was still going west, judging from the sun's position. She hoped that she would have reached the road as soon as possible.

'Off you go, Rei..' she thought and walked on.

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"Yes, sir."

Matt nodded as the men followed his orders. Two men were in charge of Cognac: they would have taken a car and would have joined the men that had made a checkpoint on the main road.

"Never leave that man alone." Matt had underlined as the men were about to leave, "We can't risk him to contact someone."

The car left a few minutes later. In the meanwhile, Detective Satou and Takagi had decided to hide the cars and a few men were parking the five cars a kilometer or so away from the mansion. Ten minutes later, the whole group of people was standing near Matt's car. Only Kaito was a bit on the background.

"What should we do now?" Takagi asked.

"Ryu and the others are in the forest." Matt remarked, "They managed to escape from the shooter and from the explosions, even though I still don't know _how _they did.. Look at that mess.."

Everyone eyed the charred remains of the cars.

"Kudo and the others came with a car.." Heiji stated in his detective-mode way, "Probably this one at the front.. but what about the other? Wait, unless.."

"That should have been the car to which they had applied the device." Matt said, "I'm not this great expert but if you look carefully, you can see that it was a Porche."

"Gin's car." Kaito muttered to himself.

"But we have a problem." Chris added, understanding what the others were saying through their motions, even though they spoke in Japanese, "I have been tracking them with the radar till a few kilometers from here and then I turned off the laptop to save battery. But now, a bullet has hit the laptop: I can't locate them anymore."

"This mean that we will have to check out the whole area." Satou remarked, looking around.

Less than ten minutes later, groups of four composed by FBI agents and policemen went into the forest: Matt and Heiji had given each group a determined area to check out with the map's aid. The young lawyer had only given one advice to the older and certainly more experienced men.

"Never leave your guard down." he said, "And keep your weapons at hand. That shooter was nothing compared to what the Organisation's members are capable of."

At the end, the only people left by the car were Matt, Chris, Kid, Heiji, Kazuha, Ran, Satou, Takagi, two FBI agents and two policemen.

"We'll be the largest group.." Matt stated. He turned to Kazuha and Ran. "Listen, this is your last chance to leave: if you want to go, I'll send you back with two men."

Ran shook her head while Kazuha shot the smallest of glances to Heiji.

"No, I'm coming." she said.

'Why are women always so stubborn?' Matt thought exasperatedly.

"All right." he said reluctantly, "We can go then."

The group went into the forest to check out the area assigned to them. Matt walked at the front with his hand fingering his automatic, while Kid was at the back.

Heiji had been rather silent, as though lost in his thoughts but then, he walked up to Matt.

"Xanders?"

"Hm?" Matt said, turning to him, "What, Hattori?"

"Don't you think you have gone a bit too far before?"

"You mean with that man?"

"Yes. You could have killed him if the shot had gone a few inches to the right."

Matt looked at him with an arched eyebrow.

"Do you really think I'm such a fool?" he asked.

"No." the Osaka teen replied, lowering his cap on his head, "It's just that you seem to be very... involved in this Organisation thing."

Matt didn't reply immediately.

"Say Hattori, have you read the report I've given you this morning?" he asked suddenly.

"Well, yes.. quite a bit." he replied, "Why?"

"That report is just a short summary of the Organisation's activities." Matt didn't bother at the stunned expressions that appeared on the faces of the people around him, "I have read the whole thing and, believe me, it's hard not to be involved. But my involvement is nothing compared to how Ryu, Rei, Shiho and Shinichi are."

A blank silence greeted his statement and he continued.

"The Organisation wills to kill all the people that have the misfortune to come across their plans and Ryu, Rei, Shiho and Shinichi are the first names of their lists. As a friend, I'm not going to stay aside and wait till their death. That man, Cognac, has only given us a few details. We have to find that four before they do: that's the only important thing at the moment. It's our prerogative."

Heiji nodded.

"If there only was a way to contact them.." he muttered.

"What?" Matt said, turning to him. The whole group stopped and stared at the American.

"I only said that things would be easier if we could contact them." Heiji repeated.

"What a fool.." Matt remarked, taking out his walkie-talkie, "I should have thought of it before.." Then, noticing the others' blank looks, he decided to give an explanation. "Professor has given each of them a particular device and I'm sure that they all have a transceiver. Now.. if I find the right wave-length."

"You should be able to contact them." Takagi finished.

"What would happen if someone else hears the call?" Satou retorted, "You're not sure of the wave-length."

"I'll call them with their code names." Matt replied and turned on the walkie-talkie.

_-Ellery. Christie. Ford speaking.- _he said, _-Answer.-_

But only silence greeted his words.

"Come on.." Matt urged, changing wave-length again.

_-Conan. Ai. Answer: it's Ford speaking.-_

Still nothing.

Matt went on with his attempts to contact his friends and didn't notice that Ran's head shot up when she heard 'Conan' and 'Ai'. She wasn't the only one to have noticed this though: Takagi and Satou's attention perked up too. Anyway, Ran wondered which of her four.. classmates, if she still could call them like that, had chosen Conan and Ai as code names and most of all, why _that_ specific names.

An old suspicion surfaced back in her mind as she also remembered Agent Xanders words that morning.

'No.. it's impossible...' she thought.

Matt turned off the walkie-talkie and turned to face the others.

"Nothing." he said disgruntled, "I didn't get any reply. We'll have to find them ourselves."

They all nodded and walked on.

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Rei felt extremely sensible to her surroundings: every single sound seemed to be amplified. Summed to this, she felt nervous, scared and very concerned. Ryu was the first of her thoughts. She was walking without making a sound when a noise startled her.

It was a metallic click, followed by a muffled sound. It sounded like a trigger and a gun shot through silencer.

There was a cracking noise and Rei looked up. She jumped to her right as a big branch crashed down heavily: if she hadn't noticed, it would have knocked her out.

_"Very good reflexes, Ikeda."_

A cold female voice that spoke in English reached Rei from the back. She slowly turned around to see the speaker.

A woman dressed in black was standing in front of her: she had blonde hair and cold ice-blue eyes. Rei felt cold sweat on her face as she realised who the woman was.

Chris Vineyard.

"Vermouth.." she said.

"Oh, you know me?" the woman said sarcastically, "I am honoured."

Rei slowly reached for her gun but Vermouth was in alert.

"I wouldn't do that.." she stated, approaching her with a Colt 25 in her hand, "Put the gun on the ground. Don't overestimate your luck.."

Rei did as she was told, tossing her automatic away and glared at the woman. Vermouth smirked at her.

"Why so mad?" she asked mockingly, "You really thought that I would have really fallen in your childish trap? Martini has five men after him and, much to my regret, believe me, he won't come out of it in one piece. As for you.."

"You will finish me." Rei finished coolly.

Vermouth laughed at her remark.

"Finish you?" she repeated, "If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't be speaking now."

Rei met her gaze without a flinch but she had to admit that she was right.

Why shoot the branch above her rather than kill her immediately? Vermouth was behind her: she was an easy target. Ryu's words came to her mind.

_'What do they want? Kill us or spare us for some unknown reason?'_

'What do they want from us?' Rei thought.

"You know, Ikeda, you look quite well for one that has died suicide in a car nearly a year ago." Vermouth remarked, "FBI has some skilled and resolute members, I have to admit it. Good looking too if we speak of Martini."

Rei's eyes flashed for a second but the woman noticed it.

"Jealous?" she asked approaching her more.

"Disgusted." Rei replied, looking at her with utter distaste.

A flash of rage passed through Vermouth's eyes but she managed to keep her calm.

"If it was for me, I'd rather kill you and spare your dear... boyfriend I suppose, right?" she asked, "But the orders are orders and he wants you."

"_He_?" Rei asked without realising it.

"No questions. You give only answers." Vermouth said, "Tell me, Ikeda, where has the dear traitor gone? He wants her too."

Rei managed to keep a neutral expression but she felt a jolt when she realised that this unknown 'He' wanted her and Shiho. She didn't reply.

"No answer? Then, where's the Cool Guy?" Vermouth asked. 'Shinichi.' Rei thought.

"I don't know who you're talking of." she replied defiantly.

Vermouth was getting impatient: she was going to load her gun when a buzzing noise stopped her. Someone was calling her on the transceiver.

_-Vermouth.- _she said with the gun pointed at Rei.

_-Have you found them?- _a voice asked.

_-Only one.-_

_-Bring her here.-_

_-Yes.-_

She put the transceiver away. Rei decided to react now that she was slightly off guard.

'The gun is far from where I am...' she thought furiously, 'How can I get to it without...?'

Rei noticed a small hole on the ground, right behind Vermouth: if she tripped on it, she could gain a few seconds and maybe get to the gun. Yes, but how?

'I don't have other weapons.' Rei thought, fingering the things she had in her pocket, 'I only have the chargers in the other pocket and in this one, the glasses, the computer... and what's this?'

She felt something thin, steely and cold at the bottom of her pocket. Suddenly, she remembered...

FLASHBACK

Rei was walking back to the studio: Ryu was due to be back in a few minutes with the rented car and she had just taken all the things she thought would have been useful. She walked into the room and found Shinichi there, busy mumbling by himself.

"Shinichi? What are you doing?" she asked, approaching him.

The boy looked up.

"Oh, nothing. I want to take some more of these, but I don't know how to bring them." he said, showing her a handful of silvery needles.

"You can't take all of them." she remarked, "They are too many. What if you prick yourself accidentally just putting your hand in your pocket?"

"I'd knock myself out on my own." he replied, smirking, "Where can I put them, then?"

"Pin them to a side of your jacket." she suggested, "Not all, though."

Shinichi took a few needles and pinned at the back side of his jacket. He noticed that there were only two left and turned to Rei.

"Here." he said, "Take them: you might need them."

END FLASHBACK

'It's now or never.' Rei thought as Vermouth was going to look back at her. She reached for her mini-computer. 'Sorry, Professor..'

She took out the computer and threw it at Vermouth's gun. The woman didn't expect it and stepped back as the metallic object collided with her weapon, breaking into pieces.

A gasp escaped from her mouth as she put her foot in the hole, loosing her balance and twisting her ankle at the same time. The Colt flew a few feet away from her as she fell down.

In the meanwhile, Rei dashed to get her automatic. She had hardly bent down to reach it that a bullet whizzed past her, digging a hole right next to the gun. She hastily turned around and saw Vermouth on her knees but with her gun pointed at her.

"Damn it.." Rei cursed under her breath.

"Get up with your hands up." Vermouth ordered, "One move and you'll have problems walking."

Rei straightened up with her hand held high. The other woman got up, wincing in pain as she put too much pressure on her hurt leg. She slowly approached Rei, fire burning in her ice-like eyes.

"One harsh move and you will have a worse problem with _your _leg." she threatened, "Walk slowly in front of me. Make a sudden move and I fire."

Rei reluctantly turned around but, suddenly her chain slipped out of her neck. Vermouth noticed the silvery blur fall down and glanced at it for a second and Rei took advantage of the situation. She disarmed Vermouth with a sharp hand chop and slipped behind her. The blonde woman shot around despite her ankle and Rei ducked under her swinging kick. Without wasting time, the girl grabbed Vermouth from behind and, revealing the two hypodermic needles concealed between her index and middle finger, she pricked her on her left arm and on her neck. The woman went limp and as Rei left her she collapsed to the ground. The young girl stared at the fainted woman, breathing heavily as her heart was thumping in her chest.

"I owe you one, Shinichi." she whispered.

Rei didn't have anything to bind Vermouth so she only took her gun as well as her own. She then remembered the chain and looked for it. She saw the silvery object a few feet away from her and had hardly bent down to get it when someone hit her hard on the head from the back.

As she fell to the ground, she saw that Vermouth's unconscious figure was in front of her.

'Who...?' was the last thing she thought before blacking out.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A bullet hit a boulder and another hit a trunk: bits of stone and wood splinters flew all around but there was no sight of the boy.

"Where is he?" a man roared, "He was there! I am sure!"

"Damn trees.." another one stated, "He can hide easily among them."

Five men with guns in their hands were roaming around the midst of trees, cursing the thick vegetation. They were all clad in black and looked utterly annoyed.

"Never let your guard down.." the first man said, "Martini is unpredictable: he can take advantage of your smallest mistake."

'How much consideration... I am really flattered.' Ryu thought, from his hiding: he was perched on the low branch of a tree, trying to keep out of sight.

He was in a tight spot.

He had managed to escape till now hiding among the trees and their trunks shielded him from the bullets but now they were near to a small open plain, fruit of a recent deforesting judging by the many stumps among the few tall trees. Ryu slowly turned around to see how large it was: twenty-thirty meters in width more or less. If he went there, he would be completely exposed but he couldn't go back either. Rei was going in that direction: he couldn't risk them to see her.

'Think, Ryu.' he thought to himself, 'There are five of them and they have guns. I have two guns but no silencers. I fire, they hear me and kill me.'

There was only one thing to do: set up an ambush to one of them and take his silencer. In this way, he could, at least, use his automatic: it would give him a chance to survive. He took a deep breath and looked down: four men were already at the open space, the last one was checking the bushes, gun in the hand, right under Ryu.

'Maybe.. I can get him..' he thought, 'The moment he shows me his back..'

Ryu waited patiently for a few minutes as the man checked every bush. He came to alert when the man turned around.

'Now!' he thought and jumped down from the branch. The man hardly had time to realise what was happening that Ryu covered his mouth with his hand from behind; then, he hit the man on the head with a sharp blow, knocking him unconscious, without giving him time to make a sound.

Ryu quickly took the man's gun and removed the silencer, applying it to his automatic.

'And now, I have to leave..' he thought. But he had been too optimistic..

Ryu heard a creak behind him and, instinctively, dodged to his left, turning around. A bullet grazed his right shoulder and he saw one of the four men, a few feet away from him with a sneering face.

"Martini." he snarled, "Thought you get us one by one, huh?"

"Why not?" Ryu asked quickly and fired, aiming at the man's gun. The Org's member tried to avoid the bullet but couldn't make it completely: with a yell of pain, he dropped the gun and looked at horror at his heavily bleeding hand.

'Great..' Ryu thought, 'They will all be here now!'

He rushed towards the man and practically threw himself against him, tackling him to the ground before jumping up and running away.

"HE'S HERE!" Ryu heard a shout behind him and cursed himself for not having knocked the man out, "GET HIM!"

'Where could the othe... WHAT THE HELL?' he thought wildly as he ducked.

Two bullets whizzed over his head: he looked up and saw the man he had injured and the other three men, revolvers in the hands, getting to him through a labyrinth of trees. Ryu took aim and fired: two men were disarmed and their guns flew away but nevertheless, they charged towards him. The other man fired and Ryu, trying to dodge the shot, tripped on a large tree root, loosing balance and falling to the ground.

His automatic flew a few feet away from him. Ryu was going to get up but he stopped as he saw the four men, standing in front of him, smiling evilly. Only one of them had a gun and it was pointed at him; the other men stood around him, enabling him to escape anywhere.

"Martini, your run is over." he said, loading the gun, "You have given us even too many problems for one of your age."

Ryu just glared defiantly at them: it was the only form of resistance he could manage now. He could only do that waiting for his death.. no. He had to fight.

The man's evil smile widened as his finger touched the trigger. Ryu, suddenly, leaped to the front, rolling on the ground. The men weren't caught off guard though: they turned around, blocking him as he got to his feet. The man with gun was right in front of him and was going to pull the trigger, when...

"RYU, GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

It took Ryu less than a second to recognise the voice: he immediately dodged to his right. He saw the Org's man drop the gun as a bullet pierced him arm. However the danger was not over..

Ryu ducked as he saw a silvery blur aimed at his head: it was an axe and it got stuck on a tree trunk. Ryu hardly had time to think 'Where the hell does _this _come from?' that the axeman charged at him. The boy stepped away and found himself back to back with his.. saviour.

"What are _you _doing here?" he asked as the three men circled them.

"What about talking later, huh?" Matt remarked, "After having settled things up with these gentlemen."

"Ok. One.."

"Two.."

"THREE!"

Matt and Ryu jumped forward simultaneously.

Ryu faced the axeman: he landed him with a reverse roundhouse kick to the face, making him pass out immediately. He turned to his left and saw the man he had injured. He had a long knife in his good hand and launched himself on him: Ryu dodged the the first blow that grazed his head, cutting a few strands of hair, knocking his cap down. He punched him hard in the stomach, making the man keel over and knocked him down with a sharp blow at the head.

Matt was facing the last man: he had a dagger but Matt easily disarmed him. He ducked under a swinging kick and got into attacking position, fists levelled in front of him. The man received a left jab on the face and was knocked out with an uppercut.

Ryu approached his friend, stepping over the two men he had faced.

"Good punch.." he remarked.

"Yeah, not bad." the boy agreed, "Are they all here?"

"No, there's one, down there. He should be unconscious."

"Better check out."

Matt turned around and, only then, Ryu noticed the crowd of people that were there. The young lawyer started giving orders: he sent two men to get the first Org's member Ryu had knocked out and then asked the other agents to handcuff the other four men, after having disarmed them and taken away their transceivers.

Detective Satou, Takagi, Heiji, Ran, Kazuha and Kid stared at the two boys: it was hard to think that they was only seventeen and eighteen after having seen how they had just fought. The two police officers quickly came back to senses and helped the other men bind the five criminals. Ryu must have felt their gazes because he looked at them, recognising a few and nodding at them. He raised an eyebrow, noticing Ran and Kazuha and turned to Matt.

"What are _they_ doing here?" he asked sharply.

"If you're referring to those two girls, I tried to stop them but couldn't do it." he replied, "I've set two agents as their guard and before you say it. I know: it's not a game."

Ryu looked at him doubtfully but quickly turned away. He looked around and picked up his automatic and then put in his pocket. He picked up his cap and shoved it carelessly in his other pocket.

The Organisation's five men were handcuffed and immobilised while their weapons were thrown in a corner. There were five revolvers, an axe, a dagger and two long knives.

"Quite an arsenal." Satou commented, seeing them, "And they were only five.."

Ran shuddered without realising it: she half regretted to have been so stubborn and to have come along despite her father's retorts. She glanced at Kazama: he was sweaty, slightly covered with dust and earth and a thin line of blood running down his forehead. She couldn't believe that he was the same boy that she knew at school.

"Why are you here?" Ryu asked, approaching Matt.

"It's a long story." he replied, "If you want details, ask Chris." He pointed to the girl behind him. "Anyway, the Organisation has started it's last operation: it's going to move it's Headquarter. There are nearly five hundred men from FBI to Tokyo and Osaka forces that are here to stop them."

"Wow." Ryu said simply.

"But later about this, we are here because we knew you were falling in a trap." Matt followed on.

"How..?"Ryu started to ask but the other cut through his question.

"Later." Matt said, "We saw the blown up car and caught the shooter. He exposed us the whole plan to get you four."

Ryu nodded and Christine stepped in the conversation.

"Ryu, where are Rei and the other two?" she asked.

"Well, we..." Ryu started but he stopped abruptly when he heard a noise that made him freeze on the spot.

_A gun shot._

The sound reverberated through the whole forest. All the police officers drew out their guns but Ryu whipped around, turning pale. Matt noticed it.

"What?" he asked.

"Shinichi and Shiho..." Ryu replied, "It's them.."

"WHAT?" Heiji exclaimed, hearing him.

"How can you be sure?" Matt asked sharply.

"We don't have silencers." Ryu said slowly, "Only we four... we decided not to use the guns so no one could locate us. And they went that way.." Without other explanations, he clicked his glasses' radar on and looked around.

"They went east... but they're out of my range.." he muttered. Then, turning to Matt, "We have to go and help them."

The dark haired boy nodded and looked at the four men next to the unconscious criminals.

"You four, stay here and keep an eyes on them." he said quickly and the men nodded, "Never be off guard." He then looked at Ryu. "We can go."

But the blonde boy looked sideways at the group of people behind them. Matt understood right away and so did the ones in question.

"We're coming too." Heiji said firmly. Ran and Kazuha nodded in agreement.

"We'll take care of their security." Takagi remarked, pointing at himself and Satou.

"Don't worry." the woman said.

Matt and Ryu looked at each and nodded slowly. The young engineer looked at Kaito.

"Kid, you will go east air way." he said, "Tell us what's going on and we'll see what to do."

The magician nodded: he had been quite in the background for the whole time. Kaito knew enough of Heiji to be careful: even though, he was working with FBI now, once the mission was over, he'd be a wanted criminal again. He couldn't give the Great Western Detective any clues to find out his identity.

As Kaito took off, Matt turned to the others.

"Let's go.. and don't make a sound." he said, "Ryu, show the way."

Ryu nodded and, checking on his glasses, he walked on, followed by the others.

Ran felt anxious. 'Shinichi..' she thought.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shinichi felt as though he was a prey that was dreading to escape from hundreds of hunters.

He had never felt so nervous as he walked in that silent and eerie forest. Shiho must have been thinking on the same lines, judging by her often shudders. He came to the conclusion that her 'sixth sense' was completely useless now: the forest was probably full of members of the Organisation. The evil presence had to be definitely overwhelming for her. Shiho shivered again and Shinichi reached for her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. She looked at him and he smiled. She slightly smiled back too.

They walked on for another while.

"Shinichi?" Shiho said suddenly. The boy turned, looking at her curiously. "I have never talked about.. Shuichi Akai with you, have I?"

Shinichi stared at her. It was the first time Shiho spoke so directly.  
"No." he replied, "Never. I only know a few things of him on my own.. I saw him around during many cases but never paid attention to him until Ran told me that she had met him while we had been in New York together. She said that he was a FBI agent and I thought it was unbelievable. And then you mentioned your... relationship with him. But..."

"I think I owe you an explanation." Shiho remarked, "Well.."

"No, wait." Shinichi stopped her, coming to a halt, "You don't have to. Really, Shiho."

She looked at him, lifting her cap slightly.

"I think we should keep on walking." she stated. He nodded and as soon as they were doing so, Shiho resumed to speak, "Since the first weeks after our meeting, I found out that talking with you relatively calmed me down. You always have an attitude that enfolds the ones next to you with reassurance. And I really think that starting a conversation now would be useful because I really have to calm down."

One had to carefully read among her lines to get the true meaning of her words.

Shiho was scared.

Frightened, terrified.. Call it as you like: it's always fear. And she was asking Shinichi to help her from breaking down completely. Shinichi nodded, understanding what she meant and not knowing how to reply. He decided to start, too.

"When did you meet him?" he asked tentatively.

"Shortly after I finished my studies in America." she replied, "I was sent to work in the Organisation's lab in order to develop the APTX and he came there every now and then."

"Why? I thought he was a high member, not a scientist."

"He is a high member and maybe, even more important than Gin in the hierarchy. He was an FBI officer but betrayed the government joining the Organisation and worked as a double crosser, selling out secret information."

"And no one found out?"

"Well, Rei wasn't in FBI at the time he joined them." Shiho smiled slightly, "And the Organisation had many skilled people: they practically inserted and cancelled him from FBI's database whenever they needed to. In this way, Akai could fool FBI for a while and later join the Organisation full time."

"I see."

"That should explain why I was so skeptical of Jodie Santemillion at the beginning."

Shinichi winced, remembering the young blonde woman that was once English teacher at Teitan High. He had attended her funeral services more than six months ago.

"You think he killed her?" he asked.

"Probably." she replied, "Remember, Jodie-san said that she was working only with one colleague. And you saw Akai many times during cases: it must have been him."

Shinichi felt hatred boil in his veins.

Jodie Santemillion was the only one that had given him a concrete hope of tackling the Organisation before Ryu and Rei. At the beginning, he didn't trust her: he remembered her continuous references to him as 'Cool Kid', when he was Conan and 'Cool Guy'.

Just like Vermouth did and this made him suspect that they were the same person: especially for that sentence, she often said: "A secret makes a woman, woman."

At the end, when she was going to leave, he came to know that she was an FBI agent and that she had a grudge with Vermouth and he had trusted her. She said she would have showed up but she never did.

At least, not alive. The American police found her body in her apartment. She had been shot and after a while, the case had been closed for lack of evidences.

Shiho knew her too. She had offered to put her in a witness protection program but she had refused, knowing that it would have been useless with the Organisation. She had also saved her from Vermouth disguised as Doctor Araide.

"Akai must have tricked Jodie-san, saying that he could help her. The Organisation must have known who she was since Vermouth had killed her father and must have kept an eye on her."

"Like Ryu and Rei's case." Shinichi remarked.

"Yes. Once you come across the Organisation, you have very feeble chances to get away. All the ones that have tried have died and Ryu, Rei, you and I are an exception."

"How do you know all of this? Did he tell you?"

Shiho glanced at him and her eyes clouded.

"No." she said, "At the beginning, I thought he was a bit like.. me. He said that he worked at the Organisation as an operative but mostly as a messenger: he said that he was there only because he had to and didn't want to get involved in their business. Well, this was what Akemi told me: even she didn't know the truth about him."

Shinichi abruptly turned to her when she mentioned her sister.

"She knew him?" he asked.

"Yes, she knew him months before I did. They were.. close.. you know what I mean."

Shinichi's eyes widened slightly.

"Wait.. I thought you and him.. not your sister.."

Shiho looked at the stammering Shinichi with mild amusement.

He had misunderstood from the beginning and this explained his distant attitude. He had always bombarded her with questions regarding Gin, Vodka or any other member but never asked anything of Shuichi. She had wondered why and now she knew.

"My relationship with Shuichi was only.. friendly, if such a feeling can exist in the Organisation. No love affairs." Shinichi scratched his head in embarrassment but was inwardly glad of this revelation. "I never asked 'Neechan how she met Akai but I noticed that she trusted him and told me to trust him as well." Shiho went on, "Unfortunately, she was wrong: he..."

Shinichi hushed her with a sudden wave of his hand. Shiho looked at him and he gestured to follow him. They quickly hid behind a few trees.

"What?" she asked.

"I've heard something." he replied softly, "Someone's coming here... I think."

"From which direction?"

"I'm not sure. I just heard a distant noise: it sounded like a snapped twig but I couldn't tell well."

They both stayed in silence as every cell of their bodies were in alert.

Suddenly, Shinichi leaned down to Shiho.

"Your earring phone is charged?" he whispered in her ear.

Shiho looked at him in confusion but nodded anyway. He straightened up, put his hand in his pockets and drew out his glasses. As he put them on, Shiho felt as though she was facing Conan again. Shinichi must have felt her stare because he glanced at her.

"I'm going to use the zooming device in my right lens." he explained, "The point is that it takes a lot of power and I hope the batteries will last till we're out of here."

"Go ahead." she said and he nodded. He clicked the ride side of his glasses and his right visual turned dark green: he noticed a small figure away from them.

"There's someone.." he whispered and clicked the right side of his glasses again. The visual became larger and clearer.

"It's man.. but I don't know who.. he is." he said, turning his glasses off and putting them away, "He's going the other side: we could make it.."

"Let's go then." Shiho stated.

Shinichi nodded and they both cautiously walked away. After five minutes, they looked back slightly confused.

"Don't you think it's...?" Shinichi started slowly.

"Strange?" Shiho completed, "Why should one man be walking alone? This trap has been planned in all its details and I really don't think that they would have done such a mistake."

"Yeah, they know that we're in four: if a man walked around on his own, we could tackle him down... wait a minute.. unless.."

They looked at each other and whipped around, back to back, fearing that what they had thought would be happening.

As a matter of fact, it was.

Shiho heard a light noise: it was like a string plucked. She instantly turned to her left and saw a silvery blur flying towards them. Shinichi had seen it too.

"Get away!" he shouted, jumping to his right while Shiho stepped to her left. A small metal arrow got stuck in the ground right between them.

_"GO!"_ Shinichi yelled and they both dashed towards the path on their right. He turned back only for a few seconds after he was sure that Shiho was in front him and stepped aside just in time as another arrow was shot to him. It grazed his arm, ripping the sleeve of his jacket. Without waiting more, Shinichi ran behind Shiho. When he caught up with her, he noticed that she had his same scared yet confused expression and he presumed that they were thinking the same too.

_"Why were they shooting arrows rather than killing them with their guns?"_

Ten minutes later, they came to a stop and hid behind a large rock, regaining control of their breath.

"I don't.. understand." Shiho remarked once her breath was close to normal, "They could have killed us: why didn't they do it?"

"Maybe it was only a warning." Shinichi stated, "Remember Scotch? He used a crossbow arrow to warn us and they're probably doing the same."

"How many do you think they are?" she asked, "I think surely more than one.."

"Probably.." he replied and carefully looked around, "We have to get away: they might be following us."

Shinichi slowly stepped out of their hiding but he didn't notice the figures hidden in the shadows at his right. Shiho hardly had time to get out as well that Shinichi received a sharp blow at the head, sending his cap flying away, and crashed to the ground. The chemist's expression changed from shock, as she looked down at Shinichi, to utter coldness, as she faced his attacker.

Shuichi Akai.

The man smiled mockingly at her.

Before she could do anything, someone immobilized her from behind. She struggled to free herself but it was useless. She turned to see who it was: it was another man in black but it wasn't Gin, Vermouth or Vodka much to Shiho's surprise. The man had brown hair and black eyes: emotionless, void black eyes. Shuichi loaded the gun in his hand while the other man held Shiho's hands tight behind her back..

Shinichi slowly sat up, feeling a throbbing pain at the left side of his head. He could feel his warm blood oozing down from the cut caused by the sudden blow but he didn't even bother to this. He looked up and saw Shiho struggling to free herself from the grip of man clad in black while glaring with her coldest expression at Shuichi Akai who was in front of him with a gun in his hand.

'Damn...' he thought as he tried to get up but the man, pointed the gun to him.

"Don't move." he ordered harshly and Shinichi did as he was told.

Shuichi looked at them with a dangerous smile.

"Look who we have here." he said, "Sherry and the detective."

Shinichi could swear that the man was actually enjoying himself judging by the hint in his tone. Shiho just stared at him with a void expression but her mind was racing: how could they fall in their trap so easily? It was logical... now.

"Since when do you send newbies on first line to scare the victims?" she asked sarcastically with a smirk, "While you hide waiting for them to approach?"

Shinichi wondered how on Earth Shiho could be so cool in such a situation. Two members of the Organisation, two known (at least in Akai's case) as murderers, were there in front of them: one with a loaded gun while the other was immobilising her and she mocked them?

"If it was for me, you wouldn't be breathing now." Shuichi replied harshly, "But.. the orders are orders."

Both Shinichi and Shiho thought the same thing.

_'Orders?'_

"Anyway.." the so-called FBI man continued, smiling evilly, "I won't be totally displeased today. Only one has to live, after all..."

Shinichi practically jumped to his feet, despite the dizziness due to the constant blood loss. He wouldn't let her get harmed. In any way and by anyone.

Akai smirked.

"So, Kudo, are you spontaneously offering yourself?" he asked, "No need at all, you know? Since you are the chosen one."

Shiho's eyes widened slightly as she heard this.

'They want me.. _alive_?' she thought in bewilderment, 'And Shinichi... no..'

Akai turned around and noticed the glint of emotion that flashed in the chemist's eyes. He failed to suppress a smirk.

"Worried for the detective, Sherry?" he asked, approaching her. He took off her cap and tossed it away. "Don't tell me that you care for him? Never thought I'd have lived enough to see you, Sherry, the ice-like woman, show interest on someone that wasn't Akemi."

Akai had touched a nerve.

Shinichi saw Shiho's stare grow in intensity with startling speed: it had reached a degree of coldness had he had rarely, if not never, seen before.

"Don't ever dare to mention her again." she hissed.

Another person would have felt a chill run down his spine hearing such a tone but Shuichi merely snickered.

"Angry, are you?" he stated, "You never let your true emotions show before, Sherry. You used to say that emotions are signs of weakness. My, my, have you changed." He turned to look at the detective. "Or did _he_ change you? Gin won't be happy, Sherry: he has always had particular regards towards you."

"Sure, proclaiming himself my lover and future murderer at the same time." Shiho remarked in an icy tone. She tried to move but the other man tightened the grip on her wrists. Shiho winced, making the man smirk.

Shinichi felt anger surge through him and moved towards the girl but was stopped by Akai that pointed his revolver at him.  
"Don't move, detective." he said, "Otherwise.." He fingered the trigger in an allusive way and Shinichi stopped on the spot. Akai shot him a mocking smile. "By the way, before accomplishing the orders.. There are a few things that I want to know."  
The other man stared at him.  
"We have to get away quickly." he remarked harshly, "We don't have time to chat."  
Shuichi shot a look that could have killed: he seemed to dare the man to retort his decision once again.  
"We have time, Port." he stated coolly. Port merely nodded. Shuichi looked at Shiho.  
"Let's start with you, Sherry." he said, "How did you escape from the Organisation's gas chamber?"  
Shiho met his gaze coolly and didn't give an answer. Shuichi shook his head and his green eyes glinted with mild amusement.  
"This never changes..." he muttered and then turned to Shinichi. "All right, detective, what about you? How did you survive after having taken Sherry's poison?"  
Shinichi didn't reply but glared at him with defiance. Shuichi was slowly starting to loose his patience and the two teenagers noticed it. Shinichi and Shiho looked at each other for a few seconds and a wordless communication took place.

They had to think of something. They had to think _quickly_.  
-  
Shinichi thought of their situation. They were two against two but Shiho was blocked and Akai had a gun pointed at him.  
'Not the best of situations...' the detective thought bitterly, 'But we have to get away.. or Shiho will be captured and I'll die...'  
He glanced at the reddish-blonde girl who was staring at Akai without emotions as he asked her his previous question again.  
'She's... she's behaving the same way..' he thought, 'Like when we met the first time.. As Sherry..' He imagined what would happen to her if she was brought back to the Organisation and a wave of anger and fear washed through him. 'I can't.. I can't let that happen to her... I promised.. But what can I do?'  
His right hand brushed against his side and he felt something hard touch him. Not daring to move his hand suddenly, Shinichi looked down very carefully and slowly. His heart gave a jolt at what he saw.  
The aimer of the stun-gun wristwatch was open.  
It must have flipped open when he fell down after Akai's blow.  
This gave him a shred of hope.  
If he took care of Akai, Shiho had to tackle Port. He looked at him and saw that his gun was still in the holster.  
'Maybe we can do it.. we could make it..'  
The point was telling this to Shiho now..  
-  
Shiho was facing Shuichi with her usual cool mask, avoiding to answer and gaining time. Her mind was furiously working out a possible way to escape.. if it was possible.  
'At least Shinichi..' she thought, 'He has to get away or.. Shuichi will kill him.'  
She considered her position: her hands were blocked by Port but he wasn't holding a gun; unlike Shuichi that had his revolver constantly aimed at Shinichi.  
'If I try to fight Port, Shuichi will...' she thought and a chill rushed through her spine at the thought of what he would have done to the young detective.

A sudden buzzing noise made her look up.  
Shuichi reached inside his jacket pocket and drew out a walkie-talkie. He looked at Port.  
"Be careful with her." he warned and, stepped a few steps back from they were with his gun constantly aimed at Shinichi. He shot the detective a look that seemed to say -Do something and you're dead and then he spoke in a very soft voice on the transceiver, so that no one could hear the conversation.  
Shiho was still thinking when she felt a stare. She looked up and her eyes met Shinichi's ones: he was staring at her with insistence.  
'What does he have in his mind?' she thought, keeping a neutral expression so that Shuichi couldn't notice the silent communication between them.  
Once he was sure that she was paying attention, Shinichi's gaze quickly averted to his right, to Akai and then back to her. She followed his actions with her eyes and understood what he meant to do when she saw the stun-gun. Open.  
'He is mad..' she thought and something in her face must have showed what she was thinking because Shinichi bit back a smirk and gave her the smallest of nods.  
'We don't have other choice.' he thought, 'Come on, Shiho..'  
Shuichi was still talking on the walkie-talkie: they had to do it now.

Shiho looked at Shinichi and nodded slightly.

The detective got ready: he had to be extremely quick.

Shiho took a deep breath: she felt Port's grip slightly looser than before. She had to catch him off guard. She looked at Shinichi again and they counted in their minds.

'Three... two... one... _go_.'

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_-Bring her here.-_

Cobalt blue orbs slowly opened but instantly shut back close as they were confronted by a source of light.

'Where...?'

It was the girl's first thought as she blinked a few times, adjusting her eyes. She didn't remember well. How did she get here but, most of all, _where_ was she?

She looked around: it was a room.

A dusty room. Nobody must have lived in here for years, judging by the cobwebs and the dirt. The only light came from the grim and shattered glass panels of the window on her left side.

She tried to shake off the last traces of dizziness from her head but a sharp jolt of pain, coming from the back of her head, made her stop. She then felt something cold trickle down the back of her neck. She tried to reach for the back of her head but.. she couldn't.

Only then she realised that she was chained to a wall.

Rei felt a chill run down her spine as the past events quickly came back to her mind.

She had fought Vermouth and had vanquished her but then someone else had caught her from behind, making her pass out. And now she was God knows where, bound to a wall.

She turned to her sides and took in her situation.

She looked like Christ on the cross: legs tied together tightly with a rope and arms set wide open with handcuffs around her wrists, latched to some pipes.

She couldn't move. She was completely immobilized.

'Oh Lord..' she thought desperately. Her thoughts went to Ryu, Shiho and Shinichi: she hoped that they were in a better situation than hers.

She noticed a small crumpled pile next to her: it was her jacket. Whoever brought her here had checked out her pockets and taken away her weapons and devices.

Rei tried to peer out of the window, wanting to figure out where she was when she a

sudden noise shattered the silence and made her heart stop for a few seconds.

_A gun shot._

'It was a.. automatic.' she thought, 'It's one of us. Oh no...'

"_Well, it seems that one of your friends has finally decided to use a gun."_

Rei's head shot around in alert: she hadn't dreamed to hear a voice, then. She was not alone. She squinted and looked at the corner of the room where the window's light couldn't reach.

Hidden in the shadows was a figure clad in a black suit that was sitting on a chair. She hadn't noticed the other person before because he blended perfectly with the darkness around him. It was a man with a deep yet cold voice.

The man got up and walked towards her, giving Rei a full sight of him.

He was tall and thin; he had black hair and a short mustache, both crossed by grey streaks. He had to be fifty years old more or less but he didn't show it. Rei had the vague feeling that she had seen him before but she didn't remember where.

However, the most stunning and scaring of his features were his eyes.

The man walked past her without even bothering to look at her. He stopped a few steps away from the window and looked outside.

"The other will be here soon." he muttered to himself and then approached Rei, standing in front of her. The girl felt a chill run down her spine as he looked at her.

The man had grey eyes: cold, emotionless, hawk-like grey eyes. She felt the impulse to get away from his stare but her efforts were vain since she was blocked.

The man just stared at her.

"Sherry should be here in a while." he remarked, "However, in the meantime, I would like to talk with you, Reila Ikeda."

Rei started. She remembered who he was. But she never thought that she would have met him.

'Why is he here?' she thought.

The man seemed to read her mind.

"Are you wondering why I am here?" he asked, "But maybe, you don't know who I am."

Rei smirked mirthlessly.

"Of course I know you." she replied coolly, "Who doesn't know _you_, Chief General Koji Koizumi?"

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And another chapter is done! I had to split it in two parts because I'm very busy and you all would have had to wait a _very_ long time.

I apologize profusely for my last updates that were full of mistakes. My old computer has nearly died so my parents have (finally) bought me a laptop at December for my twentieth birthday. The laptop is great.. too bad it doesn't have Windows Office. I've been using Word Pad since September but it doesn't have the spelling checker.

_How_ did you read all my last chapters with all that mistakes?

I downloaded the program from and it really helped me. So, I'll reload all my last updates and I hope that everything will be better.

Bye!

P.S REVIEW!


	27. Dealing with the Organisation B

Four points of the same star.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Detective Conan.

-...- transceiver talk

FOUR POINTS OF THES SAME STAR Chapter 24: Dealing with the Organisation (B)

_-I don't want any unnecessary frontal encounters. We are not here to start a slaughter: we are here to catch as many of them. If I hear of a death provoked because of simple hatred, I will be merciless and consider that person as a murderer. At my eyes, that agent will be a criminal at the same level of the ones we are going to fight.-_

A firm _-Yes, sir-_ was heard and then the communications were stopped.

FBI, Tokyo and Osaka's police forces had surrounded the whole area of the Bay of Tokyo.

The cars had been lined in a huge circle so that no one could go past them since a man would be in each car with a gun in his hand. They had spotted three ships at the harbour and a quick, yet quiet and calm line of people carrying boxes, crates and bags that came in and out of them. Nearby, there were a few black Jeeps. Matt's Dad knew why they were there.. and he would have stopped them from leaving.

Mark Xanders turned around to see his squad. The seven Inspectors involved in the attack were in charge of nearly sixty men each and they all had a definite role.

Squads Alpha and Beta: Inspector Xanders and Megure. They were in the front line and would have been the first to show themselves and attack.

Squads Gamma and Delta: Inspector Morris and Carter. They would have come from the back to catch the criminals off guard, supporting the first attack.

Squads Omega and Theta: Inspector Knight and Shiratori. They were the 'covering fire' and 'radar' of the whole operation: they had to get into action if they saw that the other four squads were in trouble, if they saw anyone trying to get away and they also had to give constant information to the squads in action. They couldn't risk to be ambushed.

Squad Sigma: Inspector Hattori. He was in charge of the 'navy': he had managed to provide a group of boats and motorboats to patrol the sea around the Bay. If someone of the Organisation tried to escape, they would have him.

Everything was ready: everyone was waiting for Inspector Xanders' signal. When he was sure that everyone was in position, Mark Xanders took his transceiver and inhaled deeply.

_-NOW!- _

More than a hundred men with the two Inspectors at the lead charged into the old building right in front of the harbour. The men clad in black that were inside were caught off guard. They saw policemen belonging to Tokyo's district, judging by their black and white uniforms, and FBI agents, judging by the blue uniforms with the yellow letters printed on the jackets. But they quickly recovered.

Shots and shouts were heard shortly after.

The attack had begun.

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Shinichi stared at the gun pointed at his head.

Shuichi Akai held the weapon with his right hand and was holding Shiho's wrists with the other. Port was lying on the ground. Dead.

Their attempt had failed miserably..

Shiho had squirmed out of Port's grip after having hit him on the ribs. At the same time, Shinichi shot one of his hypodermic needles to Shuichi. Unfortunately, Akai had noticed the sudden movement and abruptly stepped aside and the needle hit the walkie-talkie instead of his arm. He quickly turned to Shinichi and aimed his gun at him. Shiho saw Shinichi in danger but she had to think of Port before. Without even thinking, she drew out her gun and fired randomly. The sound of the shot echoed throughout the forest and Port fell to the ground, clutching his injured shoulder.

"Sherry!"

Shiho turned and saw Shuichi pointing a gun at Shinichi's head.

"Put that down or Kudo will die." Akai threatened.

"No, don't.." Shinichi started to say but Shuichi hit him on the head again, on the same spot he had hit before. The boy fell on his knees, bleeding profusely from the cut on his head.

Akai turned to the girl.

"Well?" he asked, "What do you choose? His death or .. ?" He stopped as a gun fell on the ground and a smirk appeared on his face. "You have softened. Now, come here. Slowly."

Shiho did as she was told and when she was close, Shuichi grabbed her wrists, forcing her to turn around and look at Shinichi who was still on the ground.

Port was whimpering behind them, holding his bleeding shoulder. Shuichi looked at him with a calculating stare and then, without warning, he fired. The bullet hit Port square in the chest: he died with a surprised, stunned look on his face.

Shinichi's eyes widened in shock as he saw the murder take place right in front of his eyes while Shiho's stare turned harder and colder. This was the Organization.

Shuichi turned back to the boy as though nothing had happened, gun in his right hand and left hand busy holding Shiho.

"Now that we're alone, we can talk." he said, surprisingly, "I should take Sherry away but I don't think that he would mind a few minutes of lateness."

Both Shinichi and Shiho noticed the 'he' and wondered who Akai was referring to. The man looked at them with a odd stare.

"So, tell me." he remarked, "How did you two manage to survive?"

A full-blown silence greeted his words. Despite this, a smirk appeared on his face.

"I have a theory but it needs to be cleared a bit." he continued, "Let's see, it has all started with your poison, Sherry." He turned to look down at Shiho."I am sure this has something got to do with your project."The girl failed to hide her disgust as she felt his breath reach her face. Shinichi felt anger course through his body and Shuichi noticed it.

"Mad, are you?" he taunted, "You don't know what you're going against, Kudo. You don't know her as I do."

Shiho's head shot around to look at him: her eyes were blazing with fury.

"You _don't_ know me." she spat venomously.

Shuichi smirked as a glint of amusement shone in his green eyes.

"Well, Akemi did and I heard enough about you from her." he said, "She always spoke of you: always Shiho here, Shiho there."

Saying that the girl was furious was an understatement. Shinichi had never seen Shiho in such an angry state.

"You betrayed her." she said in forced calm voice, "_You_ gave her hopes, saying that I could have abandoned the Organization with her if she did a few well done works. And in the meantime, _you_ convinced her that the making of the poison would have been my last task. _You knew_ that she was the only one that could have persuaded me on quickening the project: if there was a possibility of leaving, I would have done anything. And _you knew_ how we were close to each other." The words just spilled out her mouth before she could stop them. Shiho was pouring out all the bitterness and anger mixed with sorrow for the loss of her sister: all because of Akai that had disillusioned her. "But then, when the project was coming close to the end, you showed your true colors. You knew that the Organization wouldn't have let me go. Nor they would leave Akemi. So you just waited for the moment to.. take care of her. You knew that she would have protested if you didn't accomplish the agreement. And when she did... " A mirthless smirk flickered on her face. "It was all planned. I half expected that it would have been you to assassin her. Who had the idea? You? Gin? Or someone else coming from the higher ranks? I should have known.. To think that she trusted you.."

At this point she stopped, startled by Shuichi's sudden laughter. It was a cold, harsh and mocking laughter. Shinichi, whose gaze had been fixed on Shiho during her outburst, looked at the man in bewilderment. What was so funny?

"She trusted me?" Akai repeated, "Who? _Akemi_? She trusted me as much as I trusted her." He smirked at Shiho's confused expression. "Your sister wasn't foolish as everyone thought. She hid her true intentions under a mask of naivety. If you want all the truth, Sherry, she gave me the idea of our -how did you call it? Oh, yes, plan. She tried to use me, so I used her."

Shinichi looked at the man with puzzlement but Shiho was completely stunned. What did he mean?

'What..?' she thought, 'Neechan, you tried to take advantage of Shuichi? Why..?'

Her thoughts were interrupted by Akai.

"Well, since neither want to collaborate, I'll just have to finish my work and keep my curiosity low." he said and looked down at Shinichi. "Although, I still wonder how it's possible for two teenagers to turn into two children."

Shinichi's eyes widened slightly while a glint of alarm flashed in Shiho's eyes.

Akai knew of them. _He knew of Conan and Ai._

Shuichi smirked at their reaction.

"Jodie knew this and gave me a few hints." he added, "I saw you and believe me, I thought I was hallucinating." He glanced at Shiho as he said this. "I'm sure you will explain later. But now, back to work.." He turned to Shinichi. "You are not requested, Kudo." An evil smile spread on his face, "Sorry but we are interested only on Sherry and Ikeda."

'Rei..?' the boy thought, 'What..?'

Shiho was thinking on the same lines.

'They want me and Rei? Why? For which purpose?'

"Say goodbye to your detective, Sherry." Shuichi remarked, loading his gun.

"Leave him." Shiho said, struggling in the man's grip, "He's not involved."

"Not involved?" he asked, "Then why is he here?"

Shiho looked down at Shinichi. The detective could see fear and guilt flash in her eyes.

"Because of me." she said softly, "It's my fau..'

"No." Shinichi cut through her statement and looked at her. Shiho and, even, Shuichi were slightly startled: he was intimidating. The left part of his face was covered with a mask of blood but his dark blue eyes shone with firmness beneath it.

"_Don't_ say it's your fault." he said, "Because it isn't."

Shiho just looked at him and he stared back with trusting eyes. The silent communication lasted a few moments until Akai decided that he had enough of it.

"Well, since you have said goodbye." he remarked, "I can split the couple and finish my work." He pointed the gun at Shinichi's head. Shiho struggled to block him but the man was stronger than her, so she tried to kick him. Shuichi, fed up by her attempts, shoved her a few feet away from him: he had received the order to not harm Sherry in any way and then, he was sure that by the time she would get up, he would have already killed Kudo. She couldn't have done anything at that point.

Shiho fell to the ground as a dreading sensation coursed through her. She wasn't a fool: she knew what Shuichi had in his mind.

Shinichi just glared defiantly at Akai: it was the only form of resistance that he could think of to fight him. The man smiled evilly and fingered the trigger, ready to shoot.

"_FBI! DON'T MOVE!"_

Shuichi turned abruptly to his right towards the voice. A blond boy was standing ten, or so, feet away from him with a revolver in his left hand.

Shinichi and Shiho didn't even have the time to realize what was happening that Shuichi reacted. He instantly pointed his gun to the new comer and fired. The boy didn't have time to do the same: the bullet hit him square on the chest.

The two teens' eyes widened in shock. But not for the reason everyone would think of..

"It can't be.." Akai muttered in disbelief.

The blond didn't fall to the ground after the shot. He just stood there, eyes covered by his bangs, unharmed to what they could see.

A smirk slowly appeared on his face. He raised his gun and aimed it to Shuichi. The Organization's man was going to do the same but this time he was blocked.

Shinichi had quickly charged his stun-gun watch and shot a hypodermic needle to Akai's left arm; Shiho dashed to her gun and fired at the same arm as well.

The shot reverberated in the air and Shuichi staggered for the pain but didn't fall. The blond boy fired and hit the man's right shoulder. This time the hypodermic substance effected him: Shuichi crumpled to the ground.

The three teenagers stood there in silence for a few seconds, looking at the man on the ground until the blond approached the other two.

"Hey, are you two ok?" he asked, helping them get up.

Shiho and Shinichi stared at him.

"Ryu?" she said in slight dismay, "How..?"

"You were shot.." Shinichi remarked, staggering slightly as he kept his balance and staring at the hole on his leather jacket right where the heart was.

Ryu smirked.

"Bullet proof vest." he stated, "Something that you two should have put on too." He glanced at Shinichi, who was bleeding profusely from his head, and at Shiho, who had scratches on her legs, arms and dirt on her clothes, "You look pretty battered up."

"So do you." Shiho said, eying the line of blood oozing down his forehead and the dirt and dust on his clothes.

"Where's Rei?" Shinichi asked.

"I'll tell you later.." Ryu replied hastily, "We'll have visitors shortly." Noticing the blank look on their faces, he arched an eyebrow. "You have shot twice: all the Org. members in this area will come here. We'll have to face them." He handed them two silencers.

Shinichi and Shiho wondered where he had got them but they decided to ask later, considering the situation. They applied the silencers to their guns and loaded them as Ryu did the same. They positioned themselves back to back. They had hardly done this that they heard a noise.

Approaching footsteps.

"They're coming." Shinichi whispered, turning towards the source of the sound.

"Disarm them immediately." Ryu said, "We'll take care of them after."

Suddenly, Shiho put out her hand. The boys looked at her but she was looking in front of her: they followed her gaze and noticed a few distant shadows.

They looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

Five men, dressed in black were approaching them and they didn't seem to have noticed the three teenagers. When they realized their presence, it was already too late.

A series of muffled shots were heard. Two men fell to the ground, stunned by the hypodermic bullets of Ryu's revolver while the other three's guns fell to the ground as they were hurt by Shiho and Shinichi's shots. The three men flung themselves against Ryu, Shiho and Shinichi who were in alert.

Ryu faced the first man. He dropped on his knee and swung a sweeping kick, knocking the man on his knees. He then hit him on his face with his right fist, making him faint.

Shinichi faced the second man. He dodged a punch but soon realized that his sight was getting slightly blurry and his balance was unstable.

'It's due to the blood loss.' he thought, 'I have to be quick.'

He got ready to attack. The man launched himself against him but he was faster. Shinichi kicked high: his right foot collided with the man's jaw and he went flying for a few feet, passing out before he touched the ground.

Shiho faced the last man. As he flung himself on her, she sidestepped, avoiding his blow. She hit him on the stomach with her knee and then, hit him on the head with a sharp hand chop. The man fell down unconscious.

Ryu and Shinichi had been watching her and one common thought passed in their minds as they thanked God that Shiho was on their side.

'_Never_ get this woman angry.'

The three had hardly approached each other that a voice reached them.

"_That was quite a fight."_

Shiho and Shinichi whipped around in alarm and were startled to see Matt with many other known faces. Surprised faces, if you want to know.

"What are _you_ doing here?" the detective asked, looking at astonishment at Matt, Heiji and Detectives Satou and Takagi. He saw Kid that flew down from his hang glider and stood a few meters away from the group and wondered why _he_ was there. However, his eyes widened even more when he noticed Kazuha and Ran. He turned abruptly to Matt to get answers but swayed slightly on the spot, feeling dizzy.

"Shini..." Ran started to say with concern but the words died in her mouth when she saw Miyano approach him.

"Come on." she said softly and lead him away from the crowd towards an old stump nearby and made him sit down. She then examined his wound.

"It's a deep cut." she said, "You will probably need a few stitches."

"Well, that's not possible at the moment." he remarked, looking up at her "Can you stop the bleeding in some way?"

"Maybe."

Shiho drew out a handkerchief from her pocket and ripped it in two halves. She used one part to clean his face: there was blood on the whole left side of his face and it had oozed down his neck.

Another girl would have winced in seeing such a sight or would have been disgusted but Shiho didn't even flinch. When she finished, however, she realized that she wouldn't have been able to bandage his wound with the small piece of fabric she had.

"Do you have a handkerchief?" she asked him.

"No. I didn't think of taking one."

"Here take this." an English voice said.

Shiho turned around while Shinichi looked up. The girl with long brown hair and hazel eyes that they had noticed standing near Matt, was handing her a white handkerchief. Shiho nodded and took it. She managed to bandage Shinichi's head. When he got up, he smiled at Shiho with gratitude and then turned to the other girl.

"Sorry, but you are..?" he asked in English.

"Christine Evans, agent and computer scientist of FBI." Chris replied, "Very pleased to meet you, Shinichi Kudo and you too, Shiho Miyano."

"You helped Matt to work out the material you found during the raid in America." Shiho remarked, remembering their phone call with Matt and Chris nodded.

In the meanwhile, Matt, Ryu, Takagi and Satou were busy handcuffing and immobilizing the Organisation's operatives. They took their weapons and transceivers and threw them in a corner.

Heiji eyed the corpse in the corner and the unconscious body next to it. His stare hardened and Kazuha noticed it.

"What's wrong?" she whispered.

"If it wasn't for Kid and Kazama, we would have found Kudo or Miyano's body instead of that guys there" he said, pointing to the bodies.

Actually, when the first shot was heard, Ryu had located them with the radar while Kaito had seen them in danger from the sky. Ryu had quickly made a plan: he would have shown himself and faced Akai Shuichi. Ryu was sure that Shinichi and Shiho would have helped him; he was also sure that all the operatives would have reached them. Ryu had been quite clear at this point: Shinichi, Shiho and him would have faced the Organization's men. And if they were in trouble, only then, Matt and the other agents would have showed their presence, taking the men off guard.

Kazuha shuddered, eying Kudo and Miyano. She didn't know them well but when they had met last time, they seemed normal students and teenagers just like her and Heiji. But after having seen them fight, she saw that they were just like Kazama. While she was watching the couple, another thought passed through her mind.

"Heiji." she whispered.

"Hmm?" he replied absently.

"Isn't Kudo-san Ran's boyfriend?"

Heiji looked at her in disbelief.

"Is that important now?" he asked. Kazuha scoffed and looked away.

However, Heiji _did_ think that it was strange. He glanced at Ran and noticed the sad glint in her eyes.

'Why is he with Miyano?' he thought, 'Don't tell me that... nah, impossible.' He shook his head, not believing that he had actually been thinking of Kudo's love affairs.

In that moment, Shinichi, Shiho and Chris approached the rest of the group.

"Care to enlighten us now?" the detective asked, "What are you doing here?"

"That's something I'd like to know too." Ryu said, turning to Matt, "You still didn't tell me. How did you find us?"

Matt looked at Ryu, Shinichi and Shiho with a very serious face and nodded.

"All right.." he said, "This is what..."

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Koji Koizumi smiled and nodded appreciatively at the girl bound to the wall.

"I should have known." he remarked, "I underestimated your ability."

If the words had come from someone else, Rei would have felt proud but from this man, it sounded like a taunt or worse.

He had started everything. _Everything_.

She knew what he had done: all the things that had happened to her, Ryu, Shiho, Shinichi and many others had happened because he had decided it. He was the main responsible.

Rei felt a wave of hatred and anger course through her body. Her face must have shown her feelings because the man looked at her with mild amusement.

"You are quite amazing, you know?" he said, "Another person in your situation would be scared but you.. You are not showing even a trace of fear. Remarkable. Really remarkable."

'Well, that's not true..' Rei thought, staring at him coldly. To tell the truth, she was terrified but she couldn't show it. She wanted answers.

"Why should I be scared?" she asked with a smirk, "You want me alive otherwise I would already be dead by now."

"True." Koizumi replied, "Well, if you..."

He stopped mid-sentence as another shot was heard. Rei's spirits went up slightly: it had to be Ryu, Shiho or Shinichi. They had not been found.. yet. They were still fighting.

"I think I underestimated your friends, too." the man remarked without a hint of worry or annoyance "Anyway, they won't last for long. Three against twenty five operatives.. They will fall and Sherry will join you soon."

"Why are you so interested on us?"

"I was wondering when you would ask. But before that, I want to see if you will accept my offer since you are such a reasonable person."

Rei arched an eyebrow.

"Offer?" she asked.

Koji Koizumi turned to look at her intently and asked Rei the last thing she would have ever expected to hear.

"Reila Ikeda, would you join the Organisation?"

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_'What?'_

This was the thought that raced furiously in Ryu, Shiho and Shinichi's mind after they heard a part of Matt's story.

"Let me get this clear.." Shinichi said, "We understood that they had set up a trap to catch us but.. the Organization has made an emergency plan and it will start when Rei and Shiho will be caught?"

"Yes. And you and Ryu must be dead." Matt added.

"How did they know that we four have been together?" Ryu asked, "How did they find out?"

"Don't ask me." the lawyer said, "They must have.. guessed."

"Or they put all the pieces together." Shiho stated, making the others turn to her, "Shinichi lives at Beika, Rei knows him and went to school there for a while, Ryu was seen here by Scotch and I was last seen at Beika too. Too many coincidences."

A rather uncomfortable silence fell among them. Silence that Matt broke.

"Now, where's Rei?" he asked, "She was with you, right Ryu? Where is she now?"

"We split up at a certain point." he said, blanching slightly, "There were five men after us and I managed to get them coming after me while she went on."

"Which way?" Heiji asked him.

"West. Towards the.."

".. Bay of Tokyo." Matt finished. He paled and Ryu noticed it.

"What..?" he asked but the other cut through his phrase harshly.

"They want her, Ryu." he remarked, "The Organization wants Rei and Shiho but while Shiho is safe with us, Rei is walking towards the Organization's headquarter!"

Ryu blanched more. Shiho and Shinichi looked at him in shock.

"The Headquarter.. is.. there?" he asked slowly.

"YES! DAMN IT, YES!" Matt yelled. He struggled to keep his calm. "To think that we rushed here from America to stop them.."

"We can still find her." Ryu said firmly, after the initial shock wore off. He clicked his glasses, activating the transceiver.

_-Rei? It's me, Ryu._- he said, -_Answer.-_

No reply.

_-Rei, please.. Answer.-_

Still no reply.

Shinichi reached for his glasses and activated the transceiver.

_-Rei, it's Shinichi. Answer.-_

But no one replied.

The boys looked at each other as a dreading feeling reached them.

"The battery of her sunglasses could be low." the detective said softly with a last spark of hope as he went on with his tentatives. If he hadn't been so worried of Rei, he would have felt a stare.

Detective Satou had just handcuffed a man and was straightening up when she casually noticed Shinichi take out his glasses. When he put them on, she started in surprise.

She was looking at the adult version of Conan Edogawa.

She had heard rumors that Conan- kun was a distant relative of Kudo but..

'They are identical.' she thought. She wondered if someone else had noticed this but everyone was concerned for Ikeda, so she put away her thoughts.

It was Shiho that talked after a while.

"Why do they want me and Rei?" she asked Matt, "Why us? _Me_, in particular? I am the traitor! They tried to kill me!"

"You really don't understand why?" he asked instead of answering, "Remember our last meeting? We discussed about their objective."

"Pandora and the APTX-4869." Ryu said, "Yes, but.." He stopped abruptly as he put all the pieces together and his eyes widened. "Oh, Lord.."

Shinichi and Shiho looked at him with slight confusion but they quickly came to his conclusion, too and shock was clear on their faces. Shiho tensed and instinctively reached for Shinichi's hand who squeezed it in an attempt to reassure her.

The Organization wanted Rei and Shiho because they were the only ones that could carry on its plan, now that all the scientists had been caught: achieving immortality with Pandora and causing instant death with the APTX.

The men in black wanted the two girls to join them.

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"_No."_

Rei's eyes blazed as she stared at the Organization's leader. The man merely smirked at her.

"Really, Ikeda." he said, "I would have expected a better answer."

"All right, I will rephrase it properly." she retorted, sarcasm dripping in her voice, "I will _never_ join your Organization."

"Never?" he asked in amusement, "Well, that's an interesting word, you know? Never refers to an undetermined period of time. But in human being's case, it can only refer to the length of their life. Men's short, ephemeral life."

Rei stared at him. What was this, a lesson of Philosophy?

Koizumi puzzled her: he puzzled her greatly. He was the man that created the Organization, if we could say so. He should be ruthless as the men that worked for him. Why was he loosing time talking with her?

'Why is he stalling for time?' she wondered, 'And what the _heck_ does he want from me and Shiho? From me? First Scotch and now him..'

She thought this over. She was a computer scientist and Shiho a chemist. Both skilled, she added without any faked modesty: it was true after all.

Suddenly, she remembered the meeting of the ones involved in MYSTERY where she, Ryu, Shiho, Shinichi, Kuroba and Matt had discussed about what to do. She then remembered that they had an idea of the Organization's objective.

_FLASH_

"_Let's suppose, since we don't have any concrete evidence, that the Organisation's secret project is to… ehm… act as God? Can I define it like that?" Matt said, "Anyway, they want something that ends life instantly without leaving traces, and so they asked.. forced Miyano to make that poison.._

_..They want something to kill, besides weapons, so they want this poison. They want something to reach immortality, so they want that gem, Pandora."_

"_They want to create Pandora's tears artificially." Ryu explained._

'Through computer simulations..' Rei thought, as realisation dawned on her face, 'So, that's why they.. _he_.. Oh, Lord.'

Koizumi had been watching her and he smiled when he noticed her facial changes.

"You have finally understood." he remarked, "Very well."

Rei looked at him. He was standing right in front of her, arms crossed on his chest and a rather annoying, knowing smile plastered on his face.

"Why us?" she asked, "There are hundreds of scientists that could do what you want or even more. Why _us_ among all people?"

Koizumi let out a short sarcastic laugh.

"Don't underestimate yourself, Reila Ikeda." he replied. He walked to the corner, took the chair where he was seated before, put it in front of Rei and sat down.

"At the age of seventeen, you have provoked the downfall of our security system." he stated, "For thirty years, since the day I decided to found the Organization, I looked for the most talented scientists to help me with my task. Some joined me on their own will while some had to be.. _convinced_ by my men. However, for all this time, our activities managed to be hidden in the shadows. No one could even find the clues to show the existence of the _my_ Organization, as you called it. But a year and a half ago, _you_ showed up." His hawk-like eyes were fixed on Rei and she found herself incredibly uncomfortable. She wanted to get away but she couldn't since she had practically been added as a decor to the wall. "Martini.. no, Kazama did his share too, I admit it. I would have never imagined that someone would have tried or even dared to infiltrate in our ranks. I don't know if I should define his attitude brave or reckless. He stole information and brought it to you. And _you_ worked out all our protections and codes. You, Kazama and FBI have started to investigated and managed to find more and more information despite our efforts to stop you."

"I know that." Rei said without realizing it; she was annoyed and fed up by his summary. "_I _cooperated to do it."

Koizumi smirked at her reaction. She had courage to talk to _him_ in this way.

"But at a certain point, Martini's cover fell and you had to act quickly. Kazama left the country while you, Ikeda, feigned your death. We lost your tracks for a while but in the meanwhile, you didn't stay still. You contacted Sherry and Shinichi Kudo who were already together and you started to work as a solid group."

Rei stared at him in shock. How did he know all of this? But most of all, _how_ did he know that Shiho and Shinichi had met each other before Ryu and her coming?

"I am not a fool, Ikeda." Koizumi said with a sarcastic smile, "Not like the other two that I made the mistake to convince in founding the Organization. Being Chief Inspector, I have a few privileges and also get to hear news and rumors and to see information that few can achieve." He smirked at Rei's blank look and followed on. "Nearly a year ago, two of my operatives informed me that they had caught Kudo Shinichi spying them and that they had fed him the experimental poison Sherry was developing. I knew Kudo by his fame: he was defined the 'Sherlock Holmes of the Third Millennium' and had solved cases that seemed unsolvable and I considered him a possible threat. When I heard of his death, I was quite glad and I was sure that the acknowledgment of his death would have been on the front page of all the papers but, surprisingly, it wasn't.

I waited a few days but still nothing and the suspicion that he had survived increased although my operatives thought that his parents, being famous and not wanting the medias to bother them, had done the burial service secretly.

For a while, I accepted this theory until I heard a few interesting rumors: Shinichi Kudo was abroad, solving some important cases.

When I asked for more details, nobody gave me a satisfactory answer: it seemed that they had only heard about the boy's departure. That's when I started to suspect that he was alive. And I also started to suspect that the poison had some side-effect but, since Sherry was still working on it, I put the thought away."

Rei felt her throat and mouth dry as she heard the man talk: his cold tone and emotionless eyes described what had happened in all its details. But he hadn't finished yet.

"After Kudo's disappearance, another thing caught my attention. Kogoroh Mouri, a private detective that was usually employed for minor cases, had suddenly shown exceptional brilliance in solving murders and other hard cases. I thought that he could be a threat to the Organization's activities and managed to meet him during a party to see how he was." Koizumi grimaced. "What a waste of time! He was just an idiotic man who's major pleasure was boasting his so-called deductive skills and drinking an amount of alcoholics that could have thirst ten people at least." Rei smirked, imagining Shinichi's face in hearing such an accurate description but her features turned serious when she heard the rest. "But there was a child with him and he caught my attention because he had a peculiar.. stare. In the following months, Detective Mouri solved more cases and became famous as the 'Great Sleeping Detective' but this made me even more suspicious. The little boy was always there during every murder scene, during every case. I happened to hear a few agents that were on the same murder scenes where Mouri was and they spoke very highly of the boy.

Exceptional brilliance, razor sharp deductions and a rather adult like attitude that differed him from other children of his age." Koizumi looked at Rei with a chilling smile. "Conan Edogawa, 7 year old child that was left under Mouri's care from his parents. Unknown parents, if I can add. I didn't find any Edogawa that had a son called Conan in none of my database.

At this point, I found out that Detective Mouri has a daughter that happens to know Shinichi Kudo. Now, could there be a relation between little Conan Edogawa and the presumed dead Kudo? Many ideas passed through my mind but they were definitely too improbable if not impossible."

Rei felt cold sweat on her forehead because she knew by the look on the man's face that there was more. And it would have been worse.

"However, shortly after, Sherry disappeared from the gas chamber where she was imprisoned. She just disappeared in thin air and I sent operatives all over Japan to find the traitor and kill her. But nothing happened.

She was alive but hidden so well that we couldn't find her. Just like Shinichi Kudo.

At this point, my old suspicions came back. What if everything was due to Sherry's poison? Kudo had taken it and he vanished. Sherry had disappeared. What if she had taken the poison herself? I needed to know so I set to work.

I tried my best to find more about my first suspect: Conan Edogawa. And then, one day, on the local newspaper, I saw a picture that enlightened me.

A group of five children had caught a burglar and got the theft back. Three were simple seven year olds but the other two weren't. I knew they weren't. I could see the difference in their stare." The man stopped and his gaze stalled on Rei again as a creepy smirk appeared on his face. "Guess what? One was Conan Edogawa. And the other was a girl that looked exactly like Sherry when she was small. I knew her quite well. I personally asked Atsushi and Elena Miyano to join the Organization and I followed Sher.. Shiho and Akemi's life during the years. Especially Shiho's. She had inherited her father's brilliance in science but her last achievement went beyond my most fantastic musings."

There was a strange light in his eyes and Rei didn't like it at all. He looked like a man that was seeing his most treasured dream come true: triumph was clear in his eyes. His stare was fixed on Rei as though waiting for her reaction but the girl didn't move. To tell the truth, she didn't even dare to breathe, fearing what else could happen.

"Now tell me, Ikeda." Koizumi said, after a few moments of silence, "What would you do if you knew that two seventeen year old teenagers had turned into seven year old toddlers thanks to a pill?"

Rei just looked at him. Her face had turned deadly pale and she felt as though her heart had sunk down to the pit of her stomach. But despite this, a thought passed through her mind.

If he had known all of this, why did he wait till now that the Organization was close to the fall?

Why hadn't he stop them?

Why didn't he come and get them before?

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"She's still there?"

"Yes."

"But is she...?"

"No, the point is completely still."

Ryu ran his fingers through his hair and went on walking as fast as he could. Shinichi and Shiho were right behind him; the girl had her small computer in her hand and was constantly checking it.

When Matt had finished to give them a quick explanation of what was going on, Ryu, torn between guilt and concern for having let Rei continue on her own, had started to call her on her device. Without receiving any answer but lowering the battery of his glasses. At that point, Shiho remembered the radar on the computer Agase had given her and Rei and instantly turned it on. Their initial relief of finding the signal of her device soon faded when they saw that it was still.

The most terrible of hypothesis crossed their minds but Matt had remarked that the Organization wanted her alive. Why wasn't she moving then?

Ryu, Shiho and Shinichi had immediately set to go and find Rei, despite Heiji, Detective Satou and Detective Takagi's protests. They were the Organization's targets and they couldn't go around in this forest full of operatives. But the look on Ryu's face made them give up: they had rarely seen so much resolution.

As the three walked off, Matt just had time to reach a few agents on their transceivers, ordering them to come there immediately and take care of the fallen captives. A group of agents arrived shortly after while Ryu, Shinichi and Shiho were nearly out of sight. At the end, Matt, Chris, Detective Satou, Takagi, Heiji, Kazuha and Ran had to run to catch up with the three; Kaito was following them with his hang-glider staying a few meters behind.

Matt caught up with Ryu.

"Where exactly are you going?" he asked.

"West." the blond replied shortly, "The signal's from there."

"You do realize that it could be a trap, right? To catch you all?"

"I'll risk."

Matt was getting annoyed by Ryu's absent and vague answers but he didn't say anything. He knew that he was concerned but.. was he really going to risk his friends' and his own life without thinking of the possible consequences? What happened to the Ryu he knew, the one that could make a plan considering every single detail? The one that would have never put people in danger?

The group walked in silence for ten long minutes. Everyone was in alert but the abnormal silence in the forest was not helping. Satou fingered her gun as though it gave her more reassurance; Takagi kept looking around just like Heiji; Kazuha felt very uncomfortable and she unconsciously moved closer to the boy. Ran felt as though thousand of invisible eyes were looking at her: she wished Shinichi would be by her side but he wasn't. She looked in front of her and say the boy walking close to Miyano. _Very_ close, she noticed with a bit of pain.

Anyway, ten minutes later, they came to the spot where Ryu and Rei had split; the boy recognized the place immediately.

"How far, Shiho?" he asked, turning to the girl.

"Close." she replied, "We're nearly there."

As they walked on, Shinichi felt a terribly familiar feeling: fear mixed with dread. The same that he had felt when he thought Rei had died suicide, when Ryu had been shot and when Shiho had met Gin and Vodka. He gulped.

'Be fine, Rei." he thought desperately, 'Sis, be fine.'

Suddenly, Ryu froze, making Matt and Shiho nearly crash on him.

"Ryu, what the hell..?" Matt asked but the words died in his mouth at the sight of Ryu's face. He looked as though his worst nightmare or fear had come true. "What's wrong?" he asked in concern.

"There's.. a body." he whispered, walking on, pale as a sheet, "God, no... Rei..."

Shinichi, Shiho and Matt went with him, hoping that it wasn't her. Heiji and the others noticed their sudden concern and hurried to catch up with them.

They all reached an open space among the trees. Ran and Kazuha gasped loudly when they noticed that there was a body of a woman lying on the ground. Ryu, Shinichi, Shiho and Matt let out a loud sigh of relief when they noticed that it was woman, yes, but blond. It wasn't Rei.

"Thanks God.." Ryu muttered and was about to approach the body. However, Shinichi stopped him with his hand. The blond engineer looked at his friend with confusion. "What?"

"Look around." the detective replied, "What the hell has happened here?"

At this point, Ryu looked around: there were metallic and plastic fragments but also wires and there was a great number of footprints. Not far from them was a black baseball cap close to a branch.

"A fight." he said, "A damn hard one."

Heiji approached the front group.

"There are three sets of footprints coming from the back and only one comes from the path we came from." he remarked, assuming his 'detective tone', "I presume that it was Ikeda." He then, glanced at the body, "Who's that?"

"No need to ask." Shiho muttered coolly. Heiji looked at her with puzzlement.

"Vermouth." Ryu said.

"Chris Vineyard." Shinichi remarked, "One of the most dangerous of them."

Hearing this, Matt pulled out a set of handcuffs from his pockets and quickly set to immobilize the woman. He had heard enough of her to know what she was able to do. In the meantime, Shinichi, Heiji, Ryu, Shiho, Detective Satou and Takagi set to work, trying to understand what had happened to Rei while Chris, Ran and Kazuha stayed on the background. Five minutes later they came up with a plausible conclusion.

"Rei came here." Shinichi said, "But someone was following her.. It must have been Vermouth." He glanced at the fallen branch. "I suppose she shot that branch to make Rei stop. They had a fight and it must have been really hard: Rei also had to use her small computer as a weapon. But she managed to take advantage of Vermouth and she stunned her with the hypodermic needles I gave her."

"But after that.." Matt remarked, "Someone caught Rei by surprise."

"From behind." Heiji added, "It's all clear in the tracks."

"The point is who?" Takagi wondered.

"And also why is her device's signal still here while she clearly isn't." Satou stated.

Shiho nodded in agreement but her attention turned to Ryu who was looking around as though searching something. She was about to ask what he was doing when he suddenly moved towards a spot not far from them, paling visibly. Ryu suddenly crouched down and picked something. Shiho saw a silvery glimmer in his hand. He turned around to face the others, who had noticed his movements as well, and a sad smile flickered on his face as he dangled a sliver chain from his fingers. Shinichi and Shiho gasped when they saw the familiar silver star.

"The hook's loose." Ryu stated softly, "She's always asked me to fix it up but I didn't..." He turned away, unable to speak. The others didn't talk either.

If Rei's chain, and so the device, were there, they didn't have a way to find her. They only knew that she had been caught. But they didn't know who had taken her away and, worst of all, where she was.

Ryu tightened the grip on the chain and hit a tree trunk with his fist in frustration.

They were at a dead end.  
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Rei stared at the man in front of her.

He had talked the whole time and now he just stood there, staring back at her. There were dozens of questions that roamed in her mind and she wondered if it wouldn't have been better to dare and ask rather than keep quiet.

"Why.. ?" she started, "Why didn't you stop or capture us if you knew all of this?"

Koji Koizumi's iron colored eyes gazed at her as a sly smirk appeared on his face.

"Why?" he asked, "Well, I was just too interested in you. At the beginning, when you and Kazama had started your plan.. MYSTERY, right? The other two in America decided to silence you and I agreed as well. But when you just slipped out of their fingers, my interest perked up. Kazama escaped but you.. you feigned your death." He approached Rei. "Tell me, is bringing down my criminal organization that important for you? To the point to make the world think you are dead?"

Rei's usually warm blue eyes turned incredibly cold.

"I had to do it. You are behind the deaths of many people." she said through gritted teeth, "And my parents are among them. You ordered their death. _You_ killed them."

"Collateral Damage." he replied dryly, "We have to make some sacrifices if you want to reach our objectives." He merely smirked at Rei's disgusted and angry face. "You are different though. Your talent and.. yes, stubbornness to catch me and the whole organization red-handed intrigued me. That's why you are here: I want you with us."

"I said _no_."

"You might change your mind. It's a chance of a lifetime, Ikeda. Think of it."

"Sure, helping a group of criminals and murderers." Rei looked at him. "There will never be a good reason for a man to take another man's life."

At this point, Koizumi looked at her with the most peculiar of stares. Rei could swear that there was vengeance in his eyes. Why though?

"Those are only words, Ikeda." he stated, "And you are definitely too young and naive if you still believe in that and in the mere ideal of justice."

"You are a chief Inspector of the police department. Your entire life should be ruled by the concept of justice." The question that she most wanted to get an answer came out. "Why did you start all of this? The Organization, the thefts, the murders, everything... What did it bring you? Money? Power? And now that you have them, how do you feel? How can you deal with your conscience knowing what you have done to achieve what you wanted?"

The man listened to the girl's outburst without moving. Then, suddenly, his eyes flashed menacingly and Rei realized that she had touched a nerve.

"My conscience is something I'll deal with when I'll want to." he remarked with a cold voice, "What do you know? I've got my reasons."

"The death of your mother and brother by your father?"

The man tensed and shot a look that could have killed to Rei.

"How do you know that?" he hissed, approaching her.

"I... we found out your private story when we found out that you were one of the leaders." the girl replied, keeping her calm despite the shiver of fear that had gone down her spine. "Don't underestimate us to that point."

"I should have known." he replied with a smirk, "So how much do you know?"

Rei cleared her thoughts and spoke up, thinking that if she kept on talking, maybe, the others could have got to her before anything happened.

"You won a scholarship to an American college and occasionally came back to Japan. When you were attending the first years of Law, your father, a policeman of the district of Nakano, was blamed of being in collusion with a group of drug dealers. He went through a trial that condemned him even though he had always claimed his innocence. Innocence that was effectively discovered months later. But it was too late. The man fell in depression, breaking down psychologically and.."

"After having fallen in the clutches of addiction to medicines, he took his gun and in a moment of confusion or madness, he shot his wife and elder son and injured the younger one. Then he pointed the weapon to himself and suicided." Koizumi completed with a trace of emotion in his voice. "You are probably wondering why I joined the police forces, aren't you? Well, I wanted revenge but for my family. I was disgusted by the juridical system. Justice was nothing more than a mere word to me. _Me_, a lawyer-to be. So I decided to take my revenge destroying what I hated so much.

I managed to convince two students that attended class with me to create an underground criminal group. They were easy to manipulate: brilliant when it came to studies but power hungry and with weak wills." An amused smirk appeared on his face and he went on.

On the other hand, Rei's face expressed her utter horror as she heard the man's 'confession'.

The three leaders to-be began their careers in finance, politics and police. They were really brilliant because they reached their high positions in a short time. In the following years, they recruited the men that would have become the members of the Black Organization. Gin, Vodka, Scotch and Vermouth were among the members that had shown particular ability and had been rewarded with the title of high member. Shuichi Akai joined them shortly after.

The Organization's main purpose was gaining money and power. Thefts, corruption, receiving of stolen properties and murders were the ways to achieve them. At least this was what the other two leaders thought. Koizumi had a secret plan...

He himself at times, chose the people that could be useful to the Organisation. The Ikedas, Ryu's father and Shiho's parents were among the people he chose for wits and talent. He had been also the one that had suggested to recruit scientists for their purposes. The other two had agreed at the thought of the future profits. However, Koizumi had another plan in his mind.

A killing weapon.

A deadly poison that could have killed the ones that were dangerous for the Organisation and that would have been traceless. Koizumi had asked a few scientists to carry on this project but most had failed. Atsushi Miyano seemed to be close to accomplish his request but.. he was silenced before finishing the poison. Sherry had done what her father hadn't.

The perfect poison. The APTX-4869.

"And now, the same poison seems to have some other interesting effect." Koizumi said with a smirk, "It's more than I ever asked."

"What about Pandora?" Rei surprised herself as she asked the question, "I can understand that you needed the APTX but why the jewel? It does the exact opposite!"

Koji Koizumi looked at her.

"We can be both God and the devil since we're trying to raise the dead against the stream of time" he remarked, "If man can provoke death why can't he also bring life?"

Rei stared at him as though he had gone mad.

"Who do you think you are?" she asked, "God or something? Life cannot be created: it's one and must be lived fully till the end. And, in the same way, you can't provoke death. No man should take away another man's life."

Koizumi smirked.

"You say life is one, right?" he said, "Well, that's not true."

"What?" the girl exclaimed.

"I've been blessed with a second chance to live. My father shot me after having killed my mother and brother: the bullet grazed my heart. Even the doctors said that it was a miracle that I had survived that slaughter." The man came closer to her. "In my first life I made the mistake to trust justice and our society but I quickly made up forming the Organisation. My second life is really another chance for me."

Rei looked at the man as her brain slowly took in his words. She first thought that he was utterly mad but she realised that he wasn't. He wasn't mad at all. Instead, he was extremely cunning and intelligent, not to mention ambitious.

For thirty years, he had been at the lead of one of the most dangerous underground criminal groups; if he hadn't been so sharp, the Organisation would have been dismantled sooner. Rei couldn't help but compare Koizumi to another genial criminal.

James Moriarty. Sherlock Holmes' nemesis: the man he feared and admired at the same time.

However, there was something else she wanted to know. Rei didn't know what would have become of her since she had refused Koizumi's offer. But she was sure of one thing: she would have found out all the truth about the Organisation. If she had to die, she would have died knowing everything about the criminals that had ruined hers and her friends' life.

"So that's why you want Pandora.." she said, "Since you have escaped death once, why not escape

it forever?"

"I see you have understood." the man remarked, "Very well, Ikeda."

Rei frowned darkly.

"I don't want your compliments." she retorted, "I just put all the pieces together. You are afraid. Afraid of death. So afraid that you gathered the best scientists in order to create artificially Pandora's tears in case you can't find the jewel." Koizumi didn't say anything so she went on. "You're pathetic. We are given to birth, live and die. There's no other way. Why don't you just accept all humans' common fate rather than destroying innocent lives in the ludicrous attempt of achieving immortality?"

"It's my choice, Reila Ikeda." he remarked shortly, "You and Sherry will help me, if you want it or not. Now that the group of scientists I contacted has been arrested, you two are the only ones that can accomplish my request."

Before Rei could say anything, a buzzing sound reached her ears and Koizumi took out a walkie-talkie from his trousers' pocket. He walked a few steps away from Rei and answered the call.

Rei couldn't hear what he was saying but she realised that something must have happened because Koizumi's eyes widened and he shot her a withering glare. He harshly said something to the one on the other side of the transceiver and then walked towards her.

Rei could swear that among the fire blazing in his eyes, there was also fear.

"_How did you do it?"_ he snapped angrily.

"Do what?" she asked in confusion.

"Don't play with me, Ikeda." His tone was icy and the previous sarcasm was definitely a long lost memory. "How did you find out this time? _How_?"

"How did I find _what_?" Rei asked in bewilderment.

Koizumi looked at her, wondering if she was acting or if she was really oblivious to the recent events. A few seconds later, he approached her and tightened the grip of the ropes that bound her legs. Rei winced. Then, he checked the handcuffs.

"FBI is here." he said harshly, "They are with your friends."

Rei felt a wave of relief course through her body, followed shortly after by utter confusion.

'_FBI_?' she thought, 'Who? Matt? What are they doing here?' Her gaze fell on Koizumi who looked extremely thoughtful and panicked. 'He's worried. For the Organisation or for himself?'

Koizumi stood still for another couple of moments. Then, as though he had come to reasonable way out, he looked at Rei.

"Well, Ikeda, I must leave you here for the moment." he said, "My operatives will come to get you when the tide is clear. Nobody will ever think of coming here so.. don't even think of calling for help or hope that someone will come."

He was definitely not helping Rei's spirits but the worse still had to come. He walked to a corner and came back carrying two old dusty stools with a candle on top of each of them.

Saying that Rei was confused was an understatement.

Koizumi ignored her stare and placed the stools near to her, so that they were in front of her fists. He then lit the candles and stepping back, he smirked.

Rei slowly turned her head from left to right and she finally got to it.

"Let me guess.. these are gas lines, right?" she said darkly, eyeing the pipes she was bound to.

"Yes and if you try to get rid of the handcuffs, these old, _very old_ gas lines will give away. And that's something I wouldn't advice you to do unless you want to blow up."

"Very thoughtful of you." Rei said sarcastically.

Koizumi smirked and walked out of the room, leaving her alone.

As soon as he left the room and was sure she couldn't hear him, he pulled out his walkie-talkie.

_-Gin.- _he said.

_-Boss.-_ the man answered.

_-Do as we had planned in this kind of situation. Tell Vodka to do his work and take her with you.-_

_-Yes.-_

_-In case of failure, you already know what to do.-_

_-Yes.-_

The communication ended and Koizumi walked away.

There were only three people with whom he talked and that knew his identity and they were Gin, Vermouth and Shuichi Akai.

Gin had told him what had happened: FBI and local police members were in the forest with Kudo, Martini and Sherry; Shuichi and Vermouth had been defeated and are their captives along with a dozen or so, agents. To think that he had talked with the two hardly an hour ago. There was no way to help them but he didn't even think of helping them. The most important thing now was getting away. With Sherry and Ikeda if possible.

However, if something went wrong, he would have only thought of his security.

'And I'll also have to take care of Ikeda in that case, much to my displeasure..' he thought, 'She knows too much now.'

As he thought of this, Koji Koizumi fingered a small metallic box in his pocket.

It had a red button on it.

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"_What now?"_

Matt asked the question with suppressed frustration and anger.

He felt useless. For Rei and for all the things that were happening. They had come late. _He_ had come late. But he realised that his feelings were nothing compared to the ones Ryu, Shinichi and Shiho must feel.

The blonde engineer stood still, away from the others, with his hand still holding tightly the silver chain he had given to his girlfriend.

Shiho was lost in her thoughts. Now that she knew that the Organisation wanted her back for their plans, old feelings surfaced back and she didn't like them.

Shinichi, on the other hand, hadn't left her side once. He stood next to her, thinking and often shooting her a glance to see how she was doing.

They were worried for Rei, wondering where she could be but, at the same time, their brains were working at full power. The Organisation wanted Shiho and would have done anything to get her. Also killing all the people that were in the forest at the moment. They had to think of something.

While they were thinking, Kaito was soaring in the sky above them with his hang-glider. He wanted to check the surroundings, in case something happened.

Matt and Chris were standing next to each other, looking around with their right hand touching the gun they had in their pockets, as though they expected a member of the Organisation to pop out from no where and fire at them.

As for the others, they felt many different feelings: fear, confusion, puzzlement, dread and much more. It had all happened so quickly that they still didn't realise what was actually going on. After all, they had found themselves involved with the Organisation business only that morning.

A sudden buzzing sound brought everyone back to reality.

Matt drew out his transceiver and hardly had time to answer when a voice called.

_-Agent Xanders!-_

_-Agent Kenneth?- _he asked slowly. _-What happened?- _Josh Kenneth was one of the best agents in his father's squad. He knew him as a very cool and collected person who rarely lost his calm but now he detected a hint of alarm and panic in his voice that made him worry. _-What's wrong?-_

_-Get away! We... suddenly... ambush!-_

_-What? I can't hear you well! What happened?- _Matt exclaimed. The others approached him; Ryu, Shinichi and Shiho were right by his side.

No one replied. A few seconds later, they heard a few muffled sounds followed by a thud.

_-Agent Kenneth?- _Matt called, _-Answer me! Hey, Josh, answer for heaven's sake!-_

Still nothing.

Matt paled and so did the others. A dreading silence fell among them.

_-Agent..- _he started to say but the voice that answered stopped him.

_-No need to call. He's gone.-_

Ryu, Shinichi and Shiho tensed as they recognized the voice.

_Gin_.

_-Who are you?- _Matt asked sharply.

_-Why don't you ask our common friends?-_

Matt was confused. He looked up and noticed the looks on his three friends' faces.

"Who is he?" he mouthed but they just looked at him blankly.

_-Come on, why don't you answer? You surely remember me don't you, Martini? What about you, Kudo? And you, my dear Sherry?-_

Shiho's hand latched to Shinichi's one: she was trembling slightly. He entwined his fingers with hers and squeezed them reassuringly.

At this point, Matt knew who the man was.

_-What happened to my men?- _he asked, unfortunately knowing the answer.

_-Don't ask unnecessary questions, Agent Xanders.- _Gin replied, _-Time is precious.-_

Matt's insides seethed in rage as he thought of Josh Kenneth and the two agents that were with him.

_-What do you want?- _he asked.

_-Now, you 're speaking.. I want Sherry.-_

Matt eyed Shiho while Shinichi stepped in front of her in a protective stance.

_-Why?- _the young lawyer asked slowly.

_-I already told you not to ask unnecessary questions, Xanders.-_

_-Well, the answer is no.-_

_-Foolish answer. Do you want other ones to die?-_

Matt gulped while Shiho's eyes widened.

'That men had died because of.. me?' she thought desperately, 'Is it my fault?'

_-There is an accurate shooter near you. He has just shot the three men that were here. Do you want another demonstration of his ability?-_

Matt didn't reply while Ryu slowly approached Shinichi and Shiho.

"It must be Vodka." he whispered, "With Vermouth and Shuichi out and Gin talking with Matt, Vodka's the only one that has the necessary ability."

"Damn.." Shinichi muttered, "Where could he be?"

"Anywhere and that's a problem. We're exposed: anyone could be shot." Ryu said grimly looking at the detective. Shiho didn't say anything.

'Anyone..' she thought.

In the meanwhile, Gin was getting tired of Matt's reticence.

_-All right, Xanders, let's see what you'll say now.-_ he remarked coldly.

Matt looked up in alarm.

"HEY, BE CAREFUL!" he yelled, "THERE'S A SHOOTER HERE. HIDE YOURSELVES!"

Detectives Satou and Takagi, Chris, Matt, Ryu, Shinichi and Shiho took out their guns and positioned themselves in front of Ran, Kazuha and Heiji, wildly looking around.

Shinichi suddenly saw a shadow on the ground. He looked up and saw Kid flying on his hang-glider: a vague sense of foreboding crossed his mind.

He reached for his glasses and put them on, clicking on the zooming function. He looked up and saw a small red spot going up in an imaginary line towards Kaito's heart. He fished his transceiver from his pocket.

_-KID, GET DOWN!- _he hollered.

_-What?- _he asked.

_-Get down immediately! You're being aimed!-_

Kaito abruptly steered his hang-glider down and a bullet grazed his left arm. He nearly lost his balance but he managed to stay on the glider although he was speeding to the ground without control. Ryu and Shinichi ran towards him, both thinking to catch him before he crashed to the ground. Kaito saw them and closed his hang-glider a few meters from the ground; the boy fell in the other two boys' arms. The three heavily fell on the ground in a crumpled pile.

"Kid, get off me." Shinichi groaned grumpily, "You weigh a ton."

"Yeah." Ryu agreed, getting up, "But let's talk about it later. We're still under fire."

Kaito straightened up, adjusting his top hat and monocole. He then noticed that the bullet had hit him lightly judging by the red stain on his his ripped shirt but it didn't hurt much.

A sudden shout made the three boys whip around. They saw Matt on the ground, holding his left leg that was bleeding from a hole through his thigh. Chris was kneeling on the ground next to him, looking extremely worried. Ryu fell on his knees next to his brother.

"What happened?" he asked him, "Matt?" He looked at Chris, who was on the verge of tears. "What happened?" he asked again but in English.

"He took the shot in my place." Chris replied, hastily wiping away the tears that were willing to fall from her eyes.

"Hey, calm down." Matt said with a strained yet calm voice, "I'm fine. Such a thing won't kill me."

He got up, staggering slightly; he was about to fall when Chris and Ryu caught him by an arm.

_-So, what's your reply now?-_ Gin asked, -_Do you want other demonstrations?-_

Shinichi cursed under his breath and gritted his teeth as he heard the man's voice. However, he realised something. Gin had to be communicating with Vodka but he also had to in a position that allowed him to see them. Unless Vodka informed him continuously.

Shiho had been silent for the whole time. She felt responsible. Guilty for the fact that Matt had been injured because he had refused to give her to them.

The Organisation wanted her.

Rei was already in their hands and she was the missing piece of the puzzle that the men in black had created. Rei was necessary for the simulations to create Pandora's tears artificially while she was needed for the creation of the APTX-4869.

Rei would have created life. She would have created death. That was all.

It was her destiny.

Shiho looked in front of her.

Mouri, Toyama and Hattori were standing between Detectives Satou and Takagi that still had their guns in hand. The two girls looked quite scared.

'They're not involved..' Shiho thought, 'They shouldn't be here... And they could die because of me.'

She eyed Evans, Kuroba and Matt who were still bleeding. 'Because of me...'

Ryu was covered with dust and dirt and a line of blood oozed down his forehead. She noticed a bit of Rei's chain hanging out of his pocket.

Rei.. Her best friend. The girl that had startled her so much when they had first met because of her resemblance with her beloved sister. The only one with whom she had talked freely after Akemi's death. And now Rei was in the Organisation's clutches.

Ryu.. Her brother. She had met him first when she was still in the Organisation. She was Sherry and he was Martini: he had infiltrated among the men in black under Akemi's pleading request. To save her and get her out of the Organisation.

If something happened to them, Shiho would have never forgiven herself. They were her friends, her family. Her everything now.

And of course, there was...

_-Xanders, answer immediately.-_ Gin hissed, _-Otherwise, you won't be lucky like before.-_

The threat was enough to bring an even more unnatural silence among the group. Shinichi tightened the grip on Shiho's hand. She glanced at him. He was covered with dirt, his wound had opened again, judging by the thick line of blood that was oozing down his face. The handkerchief she had used to stop the bleeding was soaked with his blood.

And of course, there was _him_.

'Shinichi...' she thought.

If something happened to him, if he got harmed because of her, she would have died.

Shinichi was her first friend. The first one that had been able to break the walls that were built around her heart. He was the ray of light that had reached her soul, piercing through the darkness that had lived with her for years.

He was her love. The only one that she had ever loved besides her sister. But it was a different kind of love. The feelings she felt for him were strong and so.. new to her. Her usual cool façade shattered, her normal rationalism fled away when he was with her.

The Organisation wanted her, not him. They wanted him dead. And she wouldn't have allowed it. Never.

Matt got the walkie-talkie, ready to answer. Shiho decided to act. She slipped out of Shinichi's grip, approached Matt and took the transceiver.

Everyone, Shinichi on the lead, looked at her with utter surprise.

Shiho took a deep breath and spoke.

_-Sherry here.- _she said, forcing to use a cool and calm voice.

_-Sherry! My dear, how are you?- _Gin drawled.

_-As though you cared , Gin.- _she replied.

_-My, my, you haven't changed a bit.-_

_-What do you want?-_

_-What have you decided? Are you coming?-_

Shiho steeled herself.

'It's now or never..' she thought.

_-I...- _she started to say but Shinichi stopped her, lowering the hand that held the walkie-talkie.

"Don't." he said firmly, "Shiho, you can't do it."

"I have to." she replied without meeting his stare.

"_No_." he insisted.

_-I'll give you five minutes, Sherry.-_ Gin said suddenly, _-Not a second more. If you don't come with me by then, you're all dead.-_

_-All right.-_Shiho replied, before Shinichi could stop her.

When the communication finished, Shiho didn't dare to look up but she felt Shinichi's stare on her.

"Are you going to go?" he asked, "Shiho?"

"Yes." she replied.

"What?" He approached her so that there were practically five centimeters between them. "Have you gone mad, Shiho?"

Shiho looked at him straight in the eyes. There was a soft light in those sky blue orbs that startled the young detective slightly.

"Don't you understand?" she said, "It's an opportunity."

"What?" he said again.

Ryu pitched in the conversation, approaching the couple.

"It's an opportunity for _what_?" he asked.

"Think of it, Ryu." Shiho said, turning towards him, "I still have my device and if I go with Gin, he might take me to where Rei is."

The two boys looked at each other ad then back at her.

"It's too dangerous." Shinichi remarked.

"He's right." Ryu agreed, "We can't be sure that he'll take you to the same place."

"But there is a possibility." Shiho insisted, "He could take me where she is." She turned to the engineer. "Don't you want to find Rei, Ryu?"

He looked at her with horror and stepped back , holding his hands up a bit, slowly shaking his head.

"You can't do this to me, Shiho." he whispered, "Don't ask me to put you in danger to save her.." His hand slipped in his pocket and he squeezed the chain. "Don't ask me to choose between my love for Rei and my love for you, sis. It's unfair.. Please, don't..."

Shiho smiled tenderly.

"It's my choice, brother." she said, "One instead of all: it's a good price. So, will you let me do this?"

Ryu didn't answer: he just stared at her with his light blue eyes fixed on her face. Shinichi looked at him questioningly and with mild anger. But Ryu shook his head.

"I can't decide." he said, "It's all up to her. And you."

Shinichi looked at him in disbelief as he stepped back to where the Matt and Kaito were. The young detective glanced at him, the magician and the lawyer. They all looked at him and shook their heads as though answering his unsaid question.

Shinichi then looked back at Shiho.

"Shiho.." he started but she stopped him. Shiho just looked at him.

"You always told me that I'm not one of them and that I'm just like you." she whispered, "This is my chance to show you, Ryu and Rei how much I've changed. And, after all, isn't it better to sacrifice one person rather than all? Many of them are not involved with this situation." Since he didn't say anything, she continued. "You.. you promised that you would protect me, right Shinichi? That's also the reason I'm going."

"You will see Gin again." he said softly, "You could meet many other of the men in black. Aren't you scared?"

"I.. I trust you, Shinichi." she replied and his eyes widened, "I'm sure you.. will come like the other times. As always."

Shinichi didn't know what to say. Her words had touched him more than anything. However, he realised that the five minuted were nearly over. She had to go.

Shiho realised it too. She was going to take the walkie-talkie when he stopped her.

"I swear I'll come and get you, Shiho." he said softly, "It's a promise."

"I'll be waiting for you." she replied, "I'm sure you will come."

The buzzing sound of the walkie-talkie reached their ears.

-_Sherry.- _Shiho said.

_-Ready, my dear?-_ Gin taunted.

_-Yes.-_

_-Get rid of your gun and transceiver. No tricks, Sherry. I can see you.- _Shiho did as she was told. _-Now take Xander's walkie-talkie and walk on straight in front of you till I tell you to stop. And no one must follow you otherwise our shooter will take care of him.- _

Shiho turned to the others. One look and she knew that they had all heard Gin's threat.

_-All right.- _she said coolly, _-I'm coming.-_

She lowered the transceiver and looked at the path she had to follow. She didn't want to turn to look at the others.

She had never liked goodbyes.

In the rare occasions the Organisation allowed her to meet Akemi, she had always hoped that time would have slowed down or maybe, in her childish naivete, stopped. But it never did. Akemi came and then went away with a goodbye. She always said that they would have met soon.

Even the day she died, she had said the same.

And now, was she going to do the same? Would she also go away just like her, breaking the promise of coming back?

She didn't know the answer. She didn't want to know.

Shiho had hardly made a step forward that a hand grabbed her own hand. A second later, she found herself in Shinichi's warm embrace. Ran and Kazuha blushed and even Heiji, Detective Satou and Takagi looked embarrassed.

"I... I will come and get you." he whispered in her ear, "It's a solemn promise."

"I'll be waiting for you." she replied as he pulled her closer to him. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent. Shinichi laced his hand through her silky reddish-blonde hair as a wave of emotions surged in him.

He was concerned, worried, scared... He feared for her. He feared to loose her.

"Shiho.." he whispered softly, bringing her even closer to him, "I love you."

"I love you too." she replied, tightening the grip on his neck.

"Wait for me."

"I will."

"Be careful."

Shiho pulled away painfully and looked into her lover's eyes. She saw affection, tenderness and concern in Shinichi's dark blue eyes as he gently caressed her cheek. Shiho nodded, taking his hand in hers and then, letting go, she headed towards the trail.

Shinichi followed her with his gaze till she disappeared from sight.

When he turned around, he felt numb and as though his heart had fallen down into his stomach. He now realised what Ryu must have been feeling. How much he must have suffered at the thought of his love in the hands of the most dangerous of criminals.

Rei was in their hands. Shiho was going 'voluntarily' towards them.

Ryu and Shinichi looked at each other in dismay. With the shooter.. Vodka around, they couldn't move without being shot. And this, meant that they couldn't follow Shiho.

Their situation was desperate.

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After a looooong time, I've finally updated! I'm sorry, sorry, sorry...

:Annitha bows continuously:

---..sorry, sorry!

The other updates should be faster. Ehm.. I hope so..

By the way, we're nearly at the end: four chapters, I think, and the story's first part is over.

REVIEW!

Bye!

A.N: Mistakes corrected


	28. Final confrontation A

Four points of the same star.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Detective Conan.

-...- transceiver talk

FOUR POINTS OF THES SAME STAR Chapter 25: Final confrontation(A)

"**_Courage isn't about being the strongest or the bravest. It's about believing in your heart no matter what anyone else says and it's about facing your fears head on, even if you know you can't win in the end."_** -Author Unknown (A.N: Actually, I don't remember.. Anyway, not mine.)

-

Ran felt her heart go into a thousand of pieces.

Tears of pain were willing to fall from her eyes.

Shinichi was unreachable for her now. He had chosen Miyano and she realised that her attempt to get him back was fruitless. It was just a childish attempt, she knew it now.

Only now, when she had seen him hug Miyano with her own eyes, as she saw his concern, she realised that her fight to get him back would have been extremely hard.

Maybe impossible..

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Rei turned her head from left to right, taking in her situation.

Hands handcuffed to gas pipes, legs bound to together with a rope and two stools with lit candles right in front of her.

'One harsh move and I blow up like a firework..' she thought darkly, "Great! Really great..'

However, she had to find a way to free herself. Koizumi had gone away and she was sure that he would have found a way to stop Ryu, Shinichi, Shiho and FBI from capturing him. He would have stopped them in all the ways he knew and Rei dreaded this.

She gently moved her hands. The pipes squeaked slightly but didn't break as she reached a safety length and then she frowned. She couldn't move her fists a lot: 5 centimeters was the maximum.

'It's not much..' she thought.

Rei tried to move her legs but they were bound too tightly. She looked at the stools in front of her and a sudden idea came to her mind.

Her leather jacket was quite near to her. Koizumi had checked out her pockets and had taken away her gun, chargers and sunglasses and had thrown it on the ground. Near to her legs.

She eyed the candle on the stool on her right.

'All right..' she thought, 'Leather is inflammable, right? If I manage to kick or touch the stool so that it falls on the jacket, I could start a small fire without the danger of exploding. And then I could burn the rope that ties my legs even though... I might also burn my jeans, shoes and myself in the attempt. But it's worth a try.'

Rei gently grabbed the pipes she was bound to and slowly tried to rise the lower part of her body. She didn't want to admit it but her heart was thumping furiously in her chest. She had done a similar exercise only at school during physical education and with the right equipment and not in an unknown place with the possibility of blowing up if she put too much pressure on her arms. She couldn't be fast because there was the risk that the pipe could break if she moved harshly. She had to be slow and accurate at the same time.

Very slowly, Rei lifted her legs and then, with a sharp movement, she hit the stool. It fell to the ground with a thud, lifting small clouds of dust; the candle on the top got unstuck, rolled off and landed on the jacket. Rei smiled in relief.

Now she only had to wait for the flames to become bigger..

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Ryu looked around, thinking where Vodka could be as he stood under a tree.

He had made a vague calculation, judging by the shots on Kid and Matt: he had an idea of his position but how could he get there without being seen?

He glanced at Matt: Chris had treated his wound a bit and had tied a handkerchief tightly around his thigh to stop the bleeding. On the other hand, Kid didn't seem to bother to his wound.

He tilted his head to the right. Detectives Satou and Takagi still had their guns in hand and were standing protectively in front of Hattori, Mouri and Toyama.

At the end, he looked at Shinichi: he was leaning on a tree trunk with an absent stare on his face. It didn't take him a lot to understand what he was thinking since he was in the same state.

They were both worried, terribly worried for the girls they loved. And they wanted to find them but, unfortunately, they blocked there with a shooter somewhere near them.

For the moment...

Ryu looked around in frustration when something caught his eye: Hattori was carrying a weapon on his shoulder. One look and he got all the details of it.

'Assault rifle.' he thought, 'With precision rifle scope and silencer, bullets... calibre 8.' An unknown smile appeared on his face. 'That's a start..'

He had to inform Shinichi. With Matt and Kid wounded, he was the only one that could help him.

He clicked the right button on his glasses, activating the transceiver.

_-Shinichi.- _he said, hardly moving his mouth. He couldn't risk Vodka to see them talking to each other. _-Answer.-_

Nothing: the detective didn't move. Ryu tried another few times but without results.

_-Shinichi, take those damn glasses and answer!-_ he grumbled under his breath after another useless attempt to contact him.

The other boy must have heard something this time because he looked up. He then felt a stare and tilting his head, he met Ryu's eyes. The blonde nodded slightly and touched his glasses as quickly as he could. Shinichi understood right away: he swiftly put on his glasses.

_-What?-_ he whispered, keeping his eyes low.

_-About time..- _Ryu remarked, _-I have an idea.-_

_-Tell me.-_ the other replied very interested, -_How can we get rid of Vodka?-_

Ryu smirked: Shinichi had understood right away.

_-Do you see the rifle Hattori's carrying?- _he asked.

_-Yeah. Where did he get it?-_ There was confusion in his tone.

_-I don't know but I must get it.-_

_-What for?-_

_-To get rid of Vodka.-_

_-How? You know where he is?-_

_-I have a vague idea.-_

There was a moment of silence.

_-What should I do?-_ Shinichi asked. Ryu whispered his plan. When he finished, they looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

It was time to get into action.

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Shiho was walking along the trail, feeling extremely nervous and the thought that she would see Gin soon was definitely not helping her. She was also worried for the others. Vodka was still there and he could shoot someone if they tried to follow her.

'Maybe.. they should just leave.' she thought, 'If they try to save me, they could.. he could die.'

She was still lost in her thoughts when a buzzing sound reached her ears. Shiho took the transceiver and answered.

_-Sherry here.-_ she said coolly.

_-Stop.- _Gin remarked and she did as she was told, "You're already here."

Shiho was startled to hear the voice right behind her. She turned and found herself face to face with her sister's murderer. Once again.

"Gin." she said without emotions.

"My dear Sherry." he stated jovially, "How are you?"

"As though you cared.."

"I _do_ care."

"Don't make me laugh."

Gin smirked. She hadn't changed a bit: still emotionless and cold. Even more than him.

"I will always care for you, my dear little Sherry." he said, "My precious, sweet red wine."

He approached her dangerously. Dangerously from Shiho's point of view because his proximity always made her feel very uncomfortable. She wanted to go away, run away from him but she couldn't. She didn't know why: it could be fear. For herself, for the others, she didn't know but she knew that if she tried to escape there would have consequences and at the moment, other problems were unnecessary. Unneeded.

She stayed still as the pale blonde haired man got closer to her, forcing herself to be calm. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her face.

"You have escaped from death three times." he remarked silkily, "From the gas chamber, from me and from Vermouth. Let's see if you'll disappear this time."

Shiho felt a chill run down her spine.

"You want me dead." she stated, "And here I thought that you wanted me back alive."

Gin smirked and lit a cigarette.

"Our _boss_ wants you alive." he underlined, "Not me. I only have the order to look after you."

"Look after me?" It was Shiho's time to smirk now. "Why? I can take care of myself."

"I wouldn't be so cheerful if I were you, Sherry. My orders are to keep you alive but if something _unwanted_ happens, I will have to take care of you..." He fingered the gun in his pocket. "In my ways... You don't know how much I would want to do it. You know, I'm nearly hoping that your new FBI friends will give us trouble so that I can do it. "

Shiho didn't reply but her mind was racing.

'So this is their plan.' she thought, 'They want me alive for their project but if FBI harms their security, I'll be killed. Typical...' She then wondered if Rei would have received the same treatment.

"What about Rei?" Shiho asked, "Where is she?"

"That shouldn't concern you, Sherry." Gin replied brusquely, "You should think of yourself."

"_Tell me._"

Gin smirked.

"Worried for your friend?" he asked, tauntingly, "Anyway, you won't miss each other."

"What do you mean?"

"In life or in death, you will be together. But now move. In front of me and no harsh moves."

Shiho did as she was told and walked straight in front of her with Gin coming behind her.

His statement didn't have to be cleared out. Shiho felt a chill run down her spine.

If FBI failed, if Shinichi and Ryu failed to find them and catch the Organisation's members, she and Rei would have been forced to work for the men in black. They couldn't refuse otherwise they would have been killed or blackmailed in the same way Gin had done before with her.

But, on the other hand, if the Organisation was brought down, Gin and the man that was guarding Rei would have killed them before getting caught.

However, Shiho noticed that Gin didn't mention the police raid that was going on at the Bay of Tokyo. Was it possibile that nobody knew about it yet?

'I just hope they'll find out as late as possibile..' Shiho thought, 'Otherwise...'

She glanced at Gin who was smoking but had a hand on his gun as well.

'Otherwise Rei and I...'

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"I'm nearly.. done. Come on.. just a little bit more.."

Rei bit her lip as she felt the flame's heat on her feet. The smell of burnt leather filled the room. The rope was burning slowly: too slowly, in her opinion. Finally, she felt the rope loosen: she moved her feet and the rope broke into shreds.

'And one problem is solved..' she thought, sighing in relief. 'Now the difficult part..' She glanced at her handcuffed wrists. How the heck was she going to free herself from these metal chains?

She moved her wrist a bit: there wasn't enough space to get her hand out.

'Think, Rei. _Think!'_

There had to be a way out. She had to free herself as soon as possible: for herself but also for her friends' sake. Koizumi was after them and she probably was the only one to know that he was there.

She had to be quick.

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"Hey, calm down!"

"Yes, come one, this isn't the moment to.."

Two well sent glares silenced Takagi and his feeble attempt to stop Shinichi and Ryu from arguing. Matt wasn't giving up though.

"Ryu, Shinichi, for God's sake, cool down!" he exclaimed, standing between the two, despite his injured leg. It was hard to explain. Everything had started so suddenly that he still couldn't believe it was actually happening.

Ryu and Shinichi were standing opposite each other, fury blazing in their eyes. Their argument had

exploded in less than a minute.

FLASHBACK

The whole group was in absolute silence: Shiho had left only ten or so minutes ago and a feeling of helplessness was in the air.

Shinichi was standing with his back on a tree: Shiho's gun and her small computer were on the ground right in front of him where she had dropped them and his stare was fixed on the spot. Ryu was a few feet away from him, leaning on another tree, his finger playing with the silver chain in his pocket. Both looked oddly absentminded.

Then, all of a sudden, Shinichi straightened up and tilted his head to his right. Ryu noticed his movement and, stood straight, eyes widening in alarm.

"Don't even think of doing it, Shinichi." he said loudly. The boy turned to him as well as the others who were surprised.

"What?" There was clear annoyance in his tone and it made Matt raise an eyebrow.

Ryu walked towards him.

"Don't think of going after Gin and Shiho." he said calmly, "Vodka has all of us under his weapon's aim. It would just be like walking towards death."

"Then what should I do?" Shinichi asked, his voice raised slightly. Ran could swear that there was anger in it as well and this surprised her greatly because she hardly remembered seeing Shinichi get angry. Annoyed or irritated, yes but never really angry.

"Wait." Ryu replied with the same calm voice, "And think of a way of getting away; in other words, we have to make a plan."

"_We?_" Shinichi snorted a derisive laugh, "Knock it off, Ryu. Plan makings have never been a we-thing: _you_ have always been the one to decide at the end."

Saying that Matt and Kaito were surprised or shocked was an understatement. They looked at each other and then at Shinichi.

"What the _hell's_ going on with him?" the American muttered incredulously.

"I haven't got the slightest idea." the magician admitted softly.

Ryu's expression, however, didn't seem to falter: he still looked extremely calm. As though forced to be so, if one looked carefully.

"Oh really?" he asked, "So you're saying that I've forced you into doing things you didn't believe in, right? Why did you do follow my suggestions then?"

"I thought they were right but it seemed that I've been wrong. Look what happened now."

"Ah, it's my fault if Rei and Shiho are under the Organisation's clutches as well."

"Well, you let her go on her own, didn't you?"

Shinichi had touched a nerve and Matt knew it: he sensed danger coming.

"Hey, wait a.." he started to say but he stopped immediately, seeing Ryu. His light blue eyes had turned incredibly cold, something that he had never seen before. The blond stepped closer to Shinichi so that there were merely a few inches between them. The tension was palpable.

"If I had even the slightest hint of what she was heading to, I wouldn't have let her go alone." he hissed, "As for Shiho, it was her decision: I couldn't stop her."

"But you could have at least tried to do it!" Shinichi was practically breathing on Ryu's face. "You say that she's like a sister to you, right? Would you leave your sister die without trying to...?"

Ryu seized Shinichi by his shirt's collar before he could finish the sentence; his eyes had reached a dangerous degree of coldness. Matt's alarm sirens were ringing madly in his head: he had to stop them. He took a step forward but his leg ached in pain and he swayed. Kaito dashed in front of him.

"Calm down, you two." he said, pulling Shinichi and Ryu apart. He looked at them in bewilderment. "What the heck is wrong with you?"

Neither answered. They just glared at each other.

"Very easy to blame me for all problems, eh?" Ryu remarked, "Makes you feel better if I am the main responsible of everything, right Shinichi? Well, listen to me, it's too easy and definitely a coward's behaviour."

"Why you..?" Shinichi growled and launched against Ryu. Kaito put himself in the middle but was harshly pushed aside. Ran and Kazuha shouted as Shinichi's fist collided with Ryu's face, sending him crashing on the ground, his glasses flying away.

Matt decided that it was time to stop them. First, he turned to Detectives Satou and Takagi.

"Don't move, understood?" he said, "We're still in danger and you have to worry of Hattori, Toyama and Mouri's protection." The two nodded.

Ryu had got up and was massaging his injured jaw. He was looking at Shinichi with the coldest of glares: he was scaring. Really.

Matt put himself between them.

END FLASHBACK

-

Vodka was on a cliff, hidden to the ones below by many trees and clumps of bushes; he was crouched on an old stump that was in front of him and had an assault rifle with a precision rifle scope and silencer in his arms. He was looking through the scope with great interest.

'Seems that the nerves are strained...' he thought with a smirk.

Martini and Kudo had just had a fight: Kudo had hit Martini, much to Vodka's amusement. The imperturbable Martini had also lost his calm; never in the year that he had worked at the Organisation, he had seen the engineer loose his annoying cold façade. And now, that same boy had threatened to hit and had been hit by the detective.

'Let's see how it will go on..' the man with sunglasses thought, looking in the scope again.

-

"Calm down, will you?" Matt exclaimed, pushing the two friends(could he still call them like this after what had happened?) far from each other.

Shinichi and Ryu didn't even bother to look at him: they just glared at each other and were definitely looking as though they wanted to tear each other into pieces.

Ran was aghast: Shinichi had punched Kazama! Weren't they friends, good friends? What was going on then? Was it possible that their respective concern for their girlfriends(Ran winced slightly when she thought of Miyano as Shinichi's girlfriend) outstripped their friendship?

Matt was thinking on the same lines.

"Listen, you two." he said firmly, "I can understand how you're feeling but.."

He had chosen the wrong words. Shinichi and Ryu looked at him.

"You _don't_ know that." they snapped together.

"Well, that's the first thing you agreed on till now." Matt remarked with a smirk, earning a glare from the two.

"Why should I agree with one that thinks he's God almighty?" Shinichi spat out, "One that decides everything not caring if the people around him will be in danger or.." He couldn't finish.

Ryu had thrown himself on him, knocking Matt out of the way. Chris and Kaito managed to catch him before he fell to the ground.

Ryu slammed Shinichi on the ground and lifted his fist ready to punch him. Heiji leaped forward ready to stop them fight: he had seen Kazama and Kudo's skills after all.

What happened later was... surprising.

Ryu grabbed Shinichi's glasses and rolled on his right side; Shinichi leaped up and snatched the rifle away from a flustered Hattori's shoulder. Ryu clicked the button that activated the zooming-effect of the device and spun around, looking at a determined direction while Shinichi loaded the weapon.

And then, he saw him.

Vodka was crouched on a stump with a rifle in his hand: he was looking through the precision rifle scope but he was exactly like Ryu had expected him to be.

_Not prepared._

"Now!" he said and Shinichi tossed him the rifle. Ryu aimed and fired. Through the scope, he saw Vodka start as he saw the blond engineer with the weapon aimed at him.

The shot hit his right arm: Ryu saw him stagger but, despite this, Vodka didn't drop the rifle; he fired back even though not very accurately.

Shinichi saw the red spotlight on the ground next to him and a second later, Ryu fired again. And again. Vodka fired once and the bullet hit Ryu's arm lightly. The boy's first shot hit exactly what he wanted: the rifle. He saw Vodka's grip on it loose and it fell down the cliff. Now the man was disarmed and injured because the second shot hit Vodka's shoulder. Ryu saw the Organisation's man wince and fall down.

"Well?" Shinichi asked, approaching him.

"I got him." Ryu replied, clicking the glasses off, "But I don't know if he has fainted for the wounds or what else."

When the two turned around, they saw a group of shocked-surprised faces staring at them.

"What the _hell_ is going on?" Matt asked, limping towards them.

Ryu and Shinichi looked at each other and smirked.

"We - er put a little act." Ryu confessed.

"Yeah, it was quite convincing, wasn't it?" Shinichi remarked casually.

Matt couldn't believe his ears.

"An act? You mean that you were only.. you two were not..?" he exclaimed.

"No." the two replied as though nothing had happened, "All planned previously."

Kaito looked at them as though they had gone mad.

"Why didn't you tell us anything?" he asked.

"Trick your companions if you have to trick your enemy." Shinichi stated.

"It was the only way." Ryu explained, "Vodka was observing us and we couldn't talk to each other freely without being suspicious. That's why we used the transceivers on our glasses and put on that small fight. It was the only way to distract Vodka enough."

"But.." Ran surprised herself in joining the conversation, "You.. insulted each other and.. Shinichi hit you, too!"

"Yeah, speaking of that." Ryu said, suddenly remembering it. He turned to Shinichi. "Got a bit carried away, didn't you?" He fingered his chin, "Good one though.."

Shinichi smiled slyly.

"What can I do?" he stated, "I learned from the best."

Ryu smiled back. He then looked around and saw his glasses; he picked them up and saw that they were chipped in many places. "These are useless now."

"Sorry about that. Take mine." Shinichi said, "And.. well, Ryu, I didn't mean what I said.. I mean..."

Ryu waved his hand in air as though plainly saying -don't worry and turned to the others.

"I'm going after Vodka." he said, "He's injured and I don't think he will go very far but I have to stop him before he contacts Gin or someone else. And he might know where Rei is."

"Wait a second.." Matt remarked, "You're going alone?"

"Yes, it's better if you guys stick together and go after Shiho and Gin." Ryu turned to Shinichi. "We thought it was the best thing to do."

Matt turned to the young detective who nodded in agreement.

"I still can't believe that you two were acting before." the lawyer muttered, "I swear that you looked as though you were going to smash yourselves to pieces."

Shinichi and Ryu smirked.

The blond boy put the rifle on his shoulder and turned to his side.

"Hey, Hattori, do you know how to use a gun?" he asked.

"Wha..?Yes." the Osaka teen replied, slightly surprised by the sudden question.

Ryu nodded and took out his automatic from his pocket; he removed the charger and then handed it along with the gun and silencer to Heiji.

"I suppose that having another shooter could be handy." he remarked, "Especially in a place packed with men of the Organisation."

"What about you?" Heiji asked, pocketing the weapon.

"I've got my revolver and this rifle." Ryu replied, "Should be enough." He looked at Matt. "Be careful, will you?"

"I should be saying that to you." the other said, "You're going alone."

"I'll take care of myself."

"As usual."

Ryu smirked at his brother's remark. He then turned to Shinichi.

"Keep your guard high, understood?" he said.

"Yes and you too." he replied. Shinichi approached Ryu and faced him: he looked very serious. "Ryu, I truly didn't mean what I said before. I know that it was necessary for our plan but I'm sorry. Really."

His friend smiled and shook his head.

"Don't worry." he said, "I must apologize too: I suppose we both got a bit carried away. If Yukiko-san saw us, she might get us a part in a movie, what do you say?"

Shinichi grinned.

"True." he stated, "Take care, eh?"

Ryu nodded and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You too." he said, "We're on the top of the Organisation's 'Wanted' list: they will take advantage of our smallest mistake."

"Find Rei."

"Find Shiho."

The boys looked at each other and nodded. It was not a goodbye or anything like that. They would see each other later and the girls would be there too. They were sure of that.

They _had_ to be sure of that: it was necessary for them.

With one last look at everyone, Ryu turned around and sped away down a trail. Shinichi and Matt who were close to each other, didn't move till he disappeared from sight. As soon as he was gone, they looked at each other.

"How can you find her without your glasses?" Matt asked.

"I'll use Shiho's radar." the detective replied.

"All right, then. Of we go to find Shiho."

"Yes, give me a minute." Shinichi replied. He walked to the tree where he had been standing and took Shiho's gun; he looked at it for a moment, fingered it for a second and put it in his pocket. However, when he bent down to pick her computer, his eyes widened in shock.

"No.." he muttered, "No.. no.. no.. _NO_!"

"Shinichi?" Matt looked at him curiously, "What..?" The other boy's white face stopped him.

"The.. bullet." he muttered. Shinichi got up, holding the small computer; Matt noticed that there was a hole that went through it. He understood right away and cursed under his breath: Vodka's shot had bounced on the ground and had hit the computer. How many chances were there for that to happen? Honestly..

"What now?" he asked, "That's gone and Ryu's glasses are gone."

"We have to go after him." Shinichi remarked, "He's got my glasses: they've got the last of our radar devices."

"We don't even know where he is!"

"We don't have other choice." Shinichi looked at Matt with a firm expression. "It's either finding Shiho with the risk of confronting who knows-how-many Organisation's men or chasing Ryu."

The answer was obvious.

"He's got quite a head start." the lawyer stated, "But, since we don't have other choices..." He turned to face the rest of the group that had overheard the dialogue between the two teens. He was in charge after all, wasn't he? "Detective Satou, Detective Takagi, you stay close to Mouri and Toyama: they're your charges." The two police officers nodded. "Hattori, you stay behind them: keep your guard high and be ready to use the gun if needed." Heiji nodded in agreement. He turned to Kaito. "Can you still steer your hang-glider? Yes? All right, fly exactly over us so that we can see you and inform us if you see Ryu or anyone else." Kaito did as he was told. "Chris, you stay in the front with me and Shinichi." Matt spoke in English, "We'll be the first line, all right?" Shinichi and Chris nodded. "Off we go."

As they group walked down the trail Ryu had previously taken, Shinichi turned to Matt.

"You said that you managed to make that shooter.. Cognac, explain what they were doing here right?" he asked, "Did he tell how many men were involved?"

"Well, he said that there were twenty agents and a group of high members." Matt replied, "But we have caught some of them by now. Let's see.. one.. five.. five again.. Uhm, yes, we caught eleven simple agents and there are our men guarding them. Plus.."

"Plus three high members." Shinichi completed, "Vermouth, Akai and Port.. well, he's dead."

"And Vodka too, if Ryu's injured him. So, to sum it up, there are nine agents and I-don't-how-many high members left."

Shinichi didn't say anything: he was thinking deeply. There was something missing..

'Vermouth, Akai, Vodka, Port... and Gin.' he thought, 'But.. there must be someone else; they have to follow somebody else. I doubt that one of them would take the lead: the others would have surely retorted. FBI's arrival was not included in their plan of trapping us here. Someone else must be here to take the decisions because their plan has surely changed recently. But who..?'

A vague idea came to his mind.

'It could be him.' he thought, 'That would explain the 'he' Akai used but... would he really risk to come here? Just to catch Rei and Shiho?' He thought this over. 'It could be.. He's the creator of this plan, after all..'

Everything depended from the ones at the Bay. If they finished their work there, they could come and help them out.

In this way, they would have a chance to catch everyone, including.. him.

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The old building.

That's how people call the three-floored, brick building at the harbour. Once, it was used to store the merchandises that had to be shipped for long journeys but nowadays it was just and old, empty building that many wanted to demolish and replace with something more useful. However, it had never been brought down.

Nor was it empty and unused as everyone thought.

The Organisation had used it secretly for more than five years and no one knew or noticed it; they had used it to store stolen goods but in the last months, it had become their Headquarter. While the American Headquarter had always been the same, the Japanese one had been changing continuously. Koizumi had thought of this for his safety.

The boss had ordered all members to work on an emergency plan: FBI was close to find them and they had to get away. In the past weeks, all the information, material and work was brought there, packed up and ready to be shipped to the new Headquarter. The latter's location was known only to Koizumi: he didn't trust any of his men enough to tell them its name.

Anyway, the building was a battlefield now.

The cement floor was littered with debris, rubble, bullets and small puddles of blood mingled with dust. Bodies were lying here and there on the floor, by the pillars, by the crates, the cardboard boxes and near the walls.

Mark Xanders ducked and a stray bullet whizzed past his head; he hid behind a stone pillar and found Lucas Daimon and Derek Morris crouched there. Lucas was intent in bandaging his arm with a blood-stained, ragged cloth.

"Mark." Inspector Morris said, loading his gun.

"Sir." Lucas said as the man crouched down next to them.

"Daimon, what happened?" he asked; he was clearly concerned, not only because he was one of his agents but also because he had his son's same age. It was as though he saw Matt injured.

"Nothing, sir." he replied, "Just my distraction."

"Well, be careful." he said gently. He then turned to the other man. "Derek, what's the situation?"

"There's a big fight at the third floor." Morris replied curtly, "Jason's squad and half of mine are up there. Scott's busy with a group of forty that tried to get away from the back; that Japanese Inspector ...Maigret.. no.. Maguire.."

"Megure." Had it been a different moment, Inspector Xanders would have cracked a smile.

"Whatever his name is, well, he's got his work with some on the second floor." Morris' head looked up as a loud thud was heard, "They're putting on a damn hard fight... By the way, what's going on outside?"

"Hattori and Shiratori are keeping on guard and have caught a few members that tried to escape with a boat and water scooters. There's a fight on the harbour, too."

"Any causalities, sir?" Lucas asked in a forced calm voice, drawing out his gun and loading it. The Organisation's men were still firing at them and they couldn't wait there forever.

"Unfortunately, yes." Morris replied, grimly, "Alpha lost five, Beta ten, Gamma six, Delta four, Omega eight."

"Squads Theta and Sigma lost twelve." Xanders added.

"That bloody criminals.." Morris muttered, "To think that we're using hypodermic bullets on them."

"And that's good." Mark remarked fiercely. Derek looked at him and smirked.

"Don't misunderstand." he said, "I agree with you, Mark. The more we catch alive, the more information we get. Remember me to have a chat with your son, eh?"

"Who, Matt?"

"No, Ryu. Great idea, the one he had of using these particular bullets."

"Sure, I'll tell him the moment I see him."

The three crouched behind the pillar as a few bullets hit it and another whizzed past Morris' arm. They heard a few shouts from the other side.

"What the bloody hell are they saying?" Inspector Morris asked with annoyance.

Inspector Xanders, the only one that could understand Japanese, smirked.

"Oh, nothing.." he said airily, loading his gun, "They think that we're tired, injured or close to give up and that they can do us in. What do you think, Derek?"

"Like hell they will." Lucas answered automatically. He immediately looked up, realising that he was with two inspectors, "Sir, I meant.."

Inspector Morris smirked.

"Took the words out of my mouth, Daimon." he remarked at the boy, "Off we go."

"Yes, we have to hurry up to finish here." Mark said, "Matt's waiting with Ryu and the others."

The three slowly stood up. They looked at each other, guns in their hands, and then dashed in different directions, firing at the Organisation's men that were in front of them and dodging their shots. The other agents that were there saw them continue the fight and were boosted in doing the same and fight along their side.

The police forces hadn't given up.

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Shiho was wondering if Gin was taking her to a particular location or if he was just making her walk around randomly. He hadn't said a word and was merely coming behind her with his gun pressed against her back now and no longer in his pocket.

The only thing she knew for sure was that they were slowly raising in height; among the thick vegetation, she could see the rooftop of the old mansion she had seen when she had come here with the others.

It seemed incredible but only a few hours had passed since the moment when the four of them had come to this isolated place, hoping to catch the Organisation but instead falling in a trap.

'So brilliant but yet so stupid..' she thought, 'We messed up everything when we were a inch or so from reaching our goal..'

A sudden chilly gust of wind made her come out of her thoughts and look around. She saw a wide forest spreading in front of her; she could see Tokyo in the distance.

"Stop." Gin's cold voice reached her as though he was very far and not right behind her but she didn't bother to it. She was too busy trying to slow down her heartbeats as she took in better the landscape around her.

They were at an open space, near a cliff. Shiho saw that there was a deep ravine below the cliff and again, she felt the cold wind reach her. She had rarely seen a harsher view. Wild vines slithered over sharp rocks and boulders but there wasn't any other type of vegetation. It seemed that plants or any other living being had deserted that place. As Shiho looked down, she realised that from that height no one could survive: if a body was thrown down there, it would be lost forever. She couldn't see it's end: a thin mist was the only visible thing.

"Do you like it?"

Shiho turned and saw the white-blonde man staring at her with a twisted smile on his face.

"Like what?" she asked colourlessly.

"The place I chose for you, my dear Sherry." He moved the cigarette to a side and his smile turned even more twisted. "You are special: you escaped death so many times. You escaped _me_ as well. Your death is something I cherish witness. And now, I have got the chance. I personally chose this place for your captivity; if something goes wrong.." He fingered the trigger of his gun. "I will have to kill you. But I couldn't kill you anywhere: you deserve a good place to die and I chose this. Think how much I care for you.. You could exhale your last breath here. Do you like it?"

"I am flattered." Sarcasm dripped from her tone but it didn't show the fear and dread that was flooding her body.

Time was running fast and danger was approaching.

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Ryu was sprinting down a trail, Shinichi's glasses on his nose and the rifle on his shoulder. He was following a track: Vodka must have gone past there, judging by the footprints and drops of fresh blood on the dry ground.

'He can still move..' he thought, 'Despite my shots..'

He was very careful; he knew the Organisation enough to expect anything from them. And a injured member was just as dangerous as any other agent. Add the fact that the member was Vodka, a well-known killer and you can understand why he held his guard do high.

The blond engineer stopped abruptly and a frown appeared on his face.

'What the...?'

The footprints and the blood had vanished. Slightly confused, Ryu looked around.

Nothing.

It seemed that Vodka had disappeared on that spot.

'But that's impossible.' he thought, 'He must be around here..'

He swiftly took the rifle in his hands and loaded it, carefully observing his surroundings.

If there was one thing he had learned during the year he infiltrated in the Organisation was that the members always accomplished the tasks they were assigned; not doing so meant death.

Once in the Organisation, your life has value only if you achieve the missions that you have been entrusted otherwise you can die because failures are a sign of weakness.

And now, Vodka's mission was to kill Ryu and the boy knew it: he stood still, his senses all in alert. He was there, Ryu could feel him near. Vodka was there.

He didn't have Shiho's formidable sixth sense that made her 'feel' the Organisation's members presence but he had his instinct. Rei had often pointed out that he had a outstanding ability in realising if someone was hidden close to him. She said that he didn't need another sense since he had his instinct. He had merely waved airily at her remarks.

She was right..

Without even thinking what he was doing, Ryu dashed to his right and hid behind a tree. A bullet whizzed past him and got stuck in the tree trunk next to him. He examined it and saw that it came from an automatic. He slowly peered out of his hiding and another bullet whizzed past him; this time he felt a jet of hot air graze his ear.

'That was close.' he thought, 'So, he had another gun with him..'

He clicked the zooming mode of the glasses and peered out again. He saw him at his second try. Vodka was crouched behind a thick clump of bushes. The boy could only see his hand, his gun and part of his face.

Ryu took the rifle and tightened the grip on it. He realised that he had to be quick and very sharp: he had to get Vodka with one shot. He took a deep breath.

It was now or never.

He jumped out of his hideout, rifle ready in his hands and fired. Vodka fired back, expecting the other's manoeuvre but, fortunately for Ryu, he didn't have his usual aim due to his injuries; his shot missed Ryu's face by a few inches; Ryu's shot got the man's hand.

With a yelp of pain and a loud swore, Vodka dropped his gun and clutched his blood-dripping right hand. He was ready to dash away but froze on the spot when he saw the blond boy towering over him with the rifle pointed at his head.

"Going somewhere, Vodka?" Ryu asked nonchalantly. Vodka growled something unflattering that made the boy smirk and shake his head. "You know, I'd be more polite if I had an assault rifle pointed at my head."

The man glared at him. Ryu could see his eyes narrow menacingly beneath his sunglasses.

"What the Hell do you want?" he growled.

"Well, since you're asking with so much courtesy..." Ryu's attitude changed after this witty remark; he dropped his sarcasm and looked at Vodka. "Where is Rei?"

A smirk appeared on the man's face.

"Worried for your girlfriend, Martini?" he said.

"Just answer my question." Ryu replied harshly.

"You will never find out."

"I _will_." A click came from the rifle as Ryu loaded it. "Or you're dead."

"You won't kill me, Martini. You're a damn FBI agent: you don't have the guts to do it."

"Want to bet?"

A sudden rustling noise from behind him made Ryu start; without wasting time, he rapidly bent down and hit Vodka at the back of the head with a sharp blow and knocked him out. Then, he whipped around, rifle pointed in front of him.

"_Woah, cool down man."_

Ryu's eyes widened slightly as he found himself face-to-face with Matt.

"What the Hell are you doing here?" he asked, hastily lowering the weapon and staring at him and the small crowd behind. "Shinichi, shouldn't you be on your way to get Shiho?" He looked at his friend with bewilderment.

"We don't have the radar." the detective replied dryly and pointed to the unconscious man on the ground, "That idiot's bullet got through Shiho's computer."

"Our usual luck.." Ryu remarked sarcastically. He took of the glasses and tossed them to Shinichi. "I don't know how much battery is still there, though."

"Where's Rei?" the detective asked, slipping the glasses on his nose; he would save the battery as much as possible and use the radar later from the spot he had last seen Shiho.

"No, Vodka's not that cooperative." Ryu said grumpily, "And I knocked him out, thinking that some other agent was coming instead it was you lot." He looked at Matt. "Any news from the Bay?"

"I thought of calling Dad now." he replied. Shinichi looked up in interest.

Matt reached for his walkie-talkie and started to call his father. A deep American-English voice was heard after a long buzzing; in the background, they could hear people talking in English and Japanese and other indistinct noise.

_-Matt?-_

_-Dad, yeah it's me.-_

_-You're all right?-_

_-Sort of... Anyway, how are things going there?-_

_-We've managed to catch them all but there's no sign of the Boss.-_

Shinichi nodded: his deduction was right then.

_-Good.- _Matt replied_, -You should send a few people here: we've caught a group of agents, too.-_

_-They're on there way already. I sent them as soon as we were sure none of them were still around free. James' at the command.-_

James Fabian was probably his father's best friend and Matt knew he could trust him throughly.

_-Great.-_ the boy replied,_ -Well, we might meet soon then.-_

_-See you later: we'll be there as soon as we've done here.-_

The transmission fell and the young lawyer looked up.

"That's the first good news I hear in the last few days." he remarked with a small smile.

Before anyone could reply, a soft buzzing sound reached their ears followed by an evil chuckle.

Vodka, unknown to them, had waken up and had turned on his transceiver. Ryu rushed to him, snatched the device out of his hand and threw it away: it hit a tree and smashed into pieces.

"Who did you contact?" he demanded.

Vodka smirked; he was cocky despite the fact that he had several wounds on his arm and shoulder and was bleeding profusely.

"You'd like to know.." he remarked with a evil smile.

There was something wrong... Both Shinichi and Ryu felt it.

"Who did you contact?" Shinichi hissed, glaring at him.

The man seemed to be utterly enjoying himself.

"Someone." he replied, "By the way, you have just condemned them."

Ryu and Shinichi felt a wave of dread go through them.

"Rei and Shiho?" the two boys said together. They looked at each other in alarm.

Ryu took Vodka by his collar and lifted him up.

"Tell us everything immediately." he said in an icy voice.

"They are condemned." Vodka replied with a sarcastic smile, "Now that the Boss knows what's going on at the Bay, he doesn't need them anymore."

It didn't take much for them to put two plus two.

"Koizumi's here?" Shinichi demanded, "You contacted him!"

"What will he do to Rei and Shiho?" Ryu bellowed, "Tell us!" He was close to strangle Vodka.

The man didn't reply but the blond received an answer nevertheless.

An explosion shattered the silence.

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Rei was helplessly shaking the handcuffs that were binding her to the pipes. She had recalled all her inventive to find a way to free herself but she still didn't have the slightest idea.

She had lost track of time; she wondered how long she had been chained to that wall and even how much time had passed since the Organisation's boss had left. She also wondered if he would come back to get her. Or kill her.

Her spirits weren't high. She hadn't heard anything from outside: no shots, shouts or anything.

'I just hope that the others are fine..' she thought, eying the grim window at her left. She didn't know what to think: were they alive? Were they dead? Or were they with FBI?

This silence was unnerving.

What happened next made her heart stop.

In the eerie silence that enveloped the mansion, Rei heard a soft, muffled sound: it was a low beeping. The colour drained away from her face as realisation hit her.

'Of course... if he wanted to kill once things went wrong, he wouldn't come here so... Damn it!'

She glared at the handcuffs that were immobilizing her: she had to free herself or she was dead.

'All right..' she thought, fighting back the fear and dread that were trying to overwhelm her. She had to keep her mind clear. 'There's still a candle in front of me so I can't break the pipes. And my chances of breaking the handcuffs are very slim. Damn...'

She could still hear the beeping.

'How much time do I still have?' she wondered, 'And where could the bomb be?'

Her thoughts rushed to Ryu.

'He's the expert in these cases. He would know what to do if he was here.' A small smile flickered on her face at the thought of her boyfriend but it quickly faded away. 'No.. No, he mustn't come here or he'll be involved in the explosion.'

The thought that Ryu could die only to save her made her resolution come up. She had to get away on her own and if she didn't.. she would be the only one to die. She wouldn't let him or anyone else die with her.

For her.

Rei glanced at her left handcuff and a ray of light went through her fear-fogged brain.

She had thin wrists; they weren't thin enough to slip through the handcuff and her thumb was in the way anyway. But if she...

'What's a twisted wrist or a couple of broken fingers compared to your life?' she thought, 'And it's surely better than blowing up with this place.'

She slowly moved her left hand upwards so that her fingers could grip to the thin pipe above the gas one; it was certainly firmer than the pipe she was bound to. Rei stretched all to her left; she felt the right handcuff cut her wrist while on the left side, it had slid halfway down her arm. Now she could move her left hand.

Rei was lost in her thoughts for a few moments, making a few quick calculations. Then, shaking the last doubts away from her mind, she reached for the firm pipe, hooking her thumb on it and using her other fingers to press the metal tube against her finger.

Last time she hurt herself to this point, breaking her bones, she was nine and had broken her leg skiing during a vacation with her parents.

'It's the first time I actually hurt myself purposely ..' she thought, eying her left hand. She gritted her teeth, steeling herself. 'Now or never!'

She abruptly pulled down and failed to stifle a cry of pain and through her tear-tinted eyes, she looked at her hand. Her fingers were throbbing painfully and the thumb was in an odd angle; she tried to move it but she just felt a great stab of pain go through her wrist as it slowly moved. Wincing, she managed to close her fingers together and slowly slid her hand out of the handcuff.

'And one is out..' she thought, 'Now the ot..' Rei forze as she heard the beeping sound accelerate.

A few seconds later, there was an explosion.

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Hello, everyone. Long time since we've last heard.. I've got a couple of things to tell you.

1. Don't kill me for this rather 'short' chapter (in my standards) that ends with another cliffhanger. I know very well that they are incredibly annoying for readers but they do also make you wait with anticipation for the next update.

2. I'm sorry for the delay but.. oh, God everything seems to be happening to me. I never fully understood the meaning of 'being stressed' till now and I sincerely would have liked not to know it.

When I started writing this fiction, I wanted to do something enjoyable that could be done between my studying duties and the fact that there were people like you who are reading now, who actually enjoy my story, spurred me on going on and bettering my writing skills. However, on September of last year, problems have begun for me and family; unfortunately these problems rather than stopping are increasing and at a year's distance, my life is still complicated.

My studies have been effected by this and, believe me, concentration and calm is necessary if you study Maths.

But don't worry, I'm not going to stop writing this fiction or any others that I might write. Writing these stories make me stop thinking for a few moments of my problems, taking me into the fictional world. I know that it's quite childish to find refuge in the world of cartoons, anime and so but who cares? It's the only way I have not to break down completely. Writing, reading and listening to music have been my therapy to stress in this past year.

I hope I haven't depressed you but I wanted to explain why 4points has slowed down so much; I mean, last summer I posted 4 chapter while only half this time. Sorry for this outburst: I know that lots of people suffer even more than I do and I should be glad of not being in their place.

I sincerely thank all readers and reviewers, hoping that you will go on appreciating my story. I promise that I'll try my best to update soon.

REVIEW!

Hope to hear you soon.

Annitha.

A.N: Corrections have been made


	29. Final Confrontation B

Four points of the same star.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Detective Conan.

-...- transceiver talk

I forgot to mention one thing in the last chapter's note. The heading quote. I'm sure it didn't make much sense to any of you; as a matter of fact, it doesn't. It makes sense in _this_ chapter.

At the beginning, the chapter 'Final Confrontation' was meant to be one: one long, action-packed chapter and not the two that you are all reading . But due to my lack of time, lack of concentration, occasional writer's block and life in general, I decided to split it in two rather than waiting God knows-how-much to see it complete and whole. Anyway, I've put the quote another time so it should make sense again.

All right, off we go...

FOUR POINTS OF THES SAME STAR Chapter 26: Final confrontation(B)

"**_Courage isn't about being the strongest or the bravest. It's about believing in your heart no matter what anyone else says and it's about facing your fears head on, even if you know you can't win in the end."_** -Author Unknown (A.N: Actually, I don't remember.. Anyway, not mine.)

-

Ryu whipped around, leaving Vodka's shirt collar and making him crash back down to the ground.

"Where did _that_ come from?" Matt exclaimed, turning to the source of sound.

"The mansion.." Shinichi answered, "You don't think..?" He turned to Ryu, alarmed.

"It was so obvious.." the blonde whispered, "Where else..?" He turned back to Vodka who was smirking. For maybe the first time in his life, Ryu felt the savage desire to kill someone; he grabbed the man's collar again.

"Tell me immediately what is your plan." he demanded in an icy tone.

"What's the girls' fate if you are cornered?" Shinichi asked.

Vodka smirked at them but was slightly surprised to see Ryu smirk colourlessly back at him. The boy's brain was working at full-speed.

"Oh, I see..." he remarked, "Rei and Shiho are important for you only till your own safety is not harmed, right? Now that FBI has taken the Bay, the order is to run away. Koizumi, Gin and, probably you, if I hadn't injured you . But not the girls: they know too much by now and are dangerous.."

Shinichi had his eyes fixed on the other boy and followed on.

"They are probably the only ones that could track you back if you escaped." he said, "Shiho has been working for you and knows you better than anyone else; Rei, on the other hand, could find you anywhere thanks to her computer skills." The detective looked at the man with the most disgusted of expressions. "You just wanted to use them for your purposes. Just like you have done with Shiho in all those years she worked for you, hoping that she would one day be free; just like you did with Akemi till the day she was murdered."

Vodka didn't seem guilty at all; on the contrary, he laughed evilly.

Ryu had been quiet for a while, thinking.

"Shinichi." he said suddenly.

"What?" the boy replied.

"Go after Shiho."

"What?"

"Listen to me." Ryu got up still wrenching Vodka's collar in his hands and not minding to the fact that he was half choking. "I don't think Rei's in danger as much as Shiho is at this moment. If she's in that old house, then we still have some hope: that explosion was small. It couldn't have brought down the entire building so I'm sure that there are more time bombs set to explode at a determinate length of time from one another. But the point is that Shiho is with Gin. That madman will not wait: he's being dreaming to kill her and surely he won't waste this chance. Go and save her!"

Shinichi stared at him for a second; then, without saying a word but just nodding at his friend, he sprinted away, past the others behind him and down the trail they had just come from. He didn't even bother at the look of concern on Ran's face.

The moment he was out of sight, Ryu snatched the transceiver from Matt's hand and looked up.

_-Kid, do you hear me?-_

_-Sure.-_ the thief replied.

_-Follow Shinichi: Gin's too unpredictable. But be sure not to be seen.-_

_-What about Kudo? Does he know?-_

_-No but I doubt he'll notice you even if you were right on top of him.-_ A faint smile crossed his face. _-When it comes to Shiho, Shinichi isn't himself anymore.-_

_-All right.-_

He saw the hang-glider turn gracefully and go in the same direction Shinichi had gone. As soon as Kid was out of sight, Ryu tossed the walkie-talkie back to Matt.

"What now?" the American asked, pocketing the device.

Ryu turned back to Vodka.

"How many bombs are there?" he asked, "How are they set up to explode? At what time-length between each other?"

Vodka smirked. Matt was getting impatient.

"Listen to me." he said angrily, stepping in front of Ryu, "If you don't collaborate, I swear I will..."

"Kill me?" the man remarked sarcastically, "You FBI cowards don't have the guts to do it."

Matt actually growled but a sudden click from behind him made him turn around.

Ryu had loaded his gun and was pointing it to Vodka. The American boy was startled to see his expressionless face and his emotionless eyes; he was finally seeing Martini, his brother's alter-ego in the Organisation. For the first time, he understood how it was possible that Ryu, the honest, loyal, gentle Ryu, could have been accepted in the Black Organisation. Unconsciously, Matt stepped back towards Chris and the others who were looking at the blonde boy with frightful, alarmed and worried looks.

Vodka was the only one who looked calm. He still had a smirk on his face.

"Martini." he said, "You won't fire: you never killed." A flash of anger crossed his face. "I knew you had to be a spy: you never killed a person. Never went in mission."

"That's not relevant." Saying that Ryu's voice was cold was an understatement. "Tell me what I want to know."

"Why should I?"

Ryu fired. A loud gasp came from Ran and Kazuha while Chris was about to step up and stop Ryu but a hand grabbed her wrist; she turned and saw that it was Matt. He shook his head imperceptibly, so she decided to stay still. Heiji, Detective Satou and Takagi were going to do exactly like the American girl but stopped as they noticed Matt's attitude and they decided to wait and trust Ryu.

Vodka had blanched. His sunglasses were dangling on the left side of his face, revealing his right eye. Ryu had fired at the right side of the glasses and had merely broken them; if he had wanted, he could have killed the man easily.

"As you see, I have no restraints in killing you." Ryu stated, loading the revolver again, "I suppose that nobody here would bother if I killed you either." He tilted his head and looked at Matt who nodded. Both boys ignored the looks on the others' faces. Ryu turned back to Vodka, his eyes now showing anger and hatred. "You belong to the Black Organisation, you are among the people that have ruined my life and the ones of the people I care. You and your blasted friends have murdered my parents and killed my sister; you have murdered Rei's parents making it look as an accident; you did the same with Shiho's parents and have executed her sister; then, you started to go after us. You tried to kill Shinichi because he saw you during an illegal activity but he survived and had to live a hidden life for a year; you condemned Shiho to death but she escaped, you found her and tried to kill her but she fled away again. You wanted to kill me me and Rei but we left America before you could have the chance to do it." Ryu stepped closer to Vodka, gun still in his hand. "After all of this, do you really think that I wouldn't kill you?"

An uncomfortable silence answered his question. Vodka didn't move so Ryu pressed on.

"If you don't tell me if Rei is in the mansion and how many bombs have been placed there, I swear that I'll use all the bullets I have on you."

The threat seemed real so Heiji decided to speak up.

"Kazama, you can't do it." he remarked firmly.

"This shouldn't concern you." Ryu replied coolly, "And, by the way, I don't care what will become of me if I kill him. If something happens to Rei..." He paused, trying to find the right words that could explain his feelings. "Without Rei, I don't care a damn of my life."

His statement was so firm that nobody would even dare to think that he was lying: Ryu would have really killed Vodka if he didn't cooperate. The man seemed to be thinking on the same terms because he looked slightly troubled.

"Well?" Ryu asked, looking at him. His ice-cold blue eyes made the man flinch: he felt as though he was facing Gin or Vermouth when they were in a particularly foul mood.

"Ikeda is in a room of the second floor." Vodka muttered at last, "There are four bombs placed in the house: the one in the attic has just exploded; then there's the one at the ground floor; then, the second floor and at last, there's the one connected to the gas lines."

"What's the difference of time between every explosion?"

"Ten minutes."

Matt's eyes widened.

"Wait.. the explosion took place more or less three minutes ago!" he exclaimed, "Then the next.."

"It's due in seven minutes." Ryu remarked; he turned to Vodka. "Who took Rei there?"

Vodka didn't reply.

"Who Took Her There?" he repeated menacingly.

"The Boss."

"Koizumi.. I should have known." Ryu said; then, without warning, he fired and a bullet hit Vodka's arm. The man crumpled to the ground, motionless.

Matt approached Ryu.

"Hypodermic bullet?"

"Yes, he''ll be knocked out for a couple of hours." The blonde faced the dark-haired, "Matt, you deal with everything, I'm going."

"_What_? Alone? Have you lost your mind?" Matt demanded and before Ryu could say anything, he knelt down, checking Vodka's pockets for any hidden weapons; he surprisingly found a rope and used it, tying it around his thigh to stop the slow but continuous bleeding due to the shot. He looked up. "Come on, let's go."

Ryu dashed forward before Matt had barley gotten the word 'Come' out of his mouth. Matt was going to follow him when Chris called him.

"What about him?" she asked, pointed at Vodka's unconscious body.

"He won't wake up for a few hours. Let's leave him here: I'll send someone to take him later." he replied, "Now let's move!"

He ran after Ryu, despite his leg. Chris was right behind him. Detective Satou and Takagi were after the two FBI agents, both still holding their guns. Ran, Kazuha and Heiji who had Ryu's gun in his hand but had also picked up the assault rifle, putting it on his back, followed at the back.

Ryu in the meanwhile was running as fast as he could with only one thought in his head.

'Rei..'

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Shiho's head jerked back as a sudden explosion shattered the silence.

She looked in front of her and saw smoke and flames coming from the roof of the old house she had seen hours ago.

'What..?' she thought, puzzled but a cold, mirthless laugh made her turn to the man in front of her.

Gin was sneering; he looked like a cat that had cornered a particularly fat and tasty mouse.

"Time has come." he said, "I'm sorry for you, Sherry."

"Sorry?" she remarked, "For what? Why did the house's roof blow up?"

"It seems that your new.. friends have troubled us more than we ever expected. Your death sentence has been proclaimed with that explosion."

Shiho's cool mask didn't show the dread that was quickly flooding her body.

So that's what happened. The Organisation had found out about FBI's attack and now, they wanted to get rid of all the possible obstacles to their escape. If Gin wanted to leave before the arrival of the police forces, he had to kill her otherwise she could help them find him and the criminal group.

'It's his mission since I escaped.' she thought darkly, 'To get rid of the traitor.'

Just then a sudden thought crossed her mind.

"What about Rei?" she asked, "You said that she would have been killed too."

"Oh, her life is already compromised." Gin drawled, "You just saw the starting signal of _her_ death sentence. But it's the sign for yours as well."

Shiho failed to suppress a shudder and paled, making the man's sneer widen. She whipped around and looked in horror at the mansion, from which large columns and puffs of smoke were rising.

"At the third explosion, there will be no chance at all for Ikeda to survive." Gin stated, "And when it will happen, you will follow her suite. As I told you: in life or in death, you will be together." He smirked. "There won't be much to wait; only twenty minutes."

Rei was in the house, probably immobilised, knowing what was going to happen and waiting for death to come. Shiho didn't know whose fate was worse: Rei's to die for a bomb explosion, burnt in the fire or for smoke intoxication or hers to die shot by the man that had haunted her life for sixteen years and had murdered her sister.

'The third explosion..' Shiho thought.

If no one arrived, if no one helped them, Rei and Shiho's lives would have come to an end in less than half an hour.

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Shinichi skidded to a stop and looked at the two trails in front of him.

He wiped the sweat and blood on his front with his jacket's sleeve and took a few deep breaths. He turned on his glasses and saw a small yellow point glowing at the very edge of his right lens; he swiftly turned the glasses off and sprinted down the right trail.

He didn't know why but he felt a strange sense of foreboding and also a terribly familiar feeling.

It was happening again: he was hurrying to save someone, fighting against time, praying that he will be there before it was too late.

Last time, he had been late and the person had died.

Masami Hirota.

Akemi Miyano.

Shiho's sister.

He had failed to save her but he wouldn't let it happen again. He wouldn't allow another Miyano to die especially when he cared for her more than for anyone else.

He hadn't saved Akemi and he still despised himself for that but he couldn't even immagine what he would do if the same fate occurred to Shiho. He didn't dare to think of it.

'I _will_ get there and help her.' he thought firmly, speeding up, 'I won't make the same mistake twice.'

As he shot passed a couple of tall oaks, ignoring the stabs of pain coming from the cut on his head, he reinforced the thought in his mind.

'I will save you, Shiho.'

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Dust, ash and debris littered the dusty wooden planks of the mansion's second floor.

The roof hadn't collapsed but it had broken down quite a bit: most of the wooden beams have given away and part of the ceiling had fallen on the attic's floor. It was only a question of time and the attic would have come down on the second floor.

The walls were cracked and the flames that had developed after the explosion were stretching to the doors, windows and every odd furniture that were stored in the attic. An old coat hanger fell down and the fire started to attack the staircase leading to the second floor.

In the amidst of crackling and creaking, a cough was heard.

Yes, a cough.

-

Rei had instinctively shielded herself with her free hand when she heard the explosion.

She felt as though the entire building was moving: the floor shook and a few wooden planks cracked and broke, leaving holes here and there. The old door was cracked and was hanging off it's hinges and the stools and the chair where Koizumi had sat down had fallen over.

However, Rei registered all of this in a second moment. Her first thoughts were different.

'I'm still alive.' she thought, coughing for the dust, lowering her arm and wincing as her hand throbbed painfully, '_Why_ am I still alive?'

She knew that it wasn't possible for the Organisation to make such an elementary mistake. They wanted her dead so it couldn't be that they had placed a bomb in the wrong place. Unless..

'Unless, there are more bombs that don't explode together but at a certain difference of time from one another.' Rei frowned, 'Really great!' She calmed down. 'The explosion has taken place upstairs... How many floors does this place have? If only I knew where I am.'

A noise from above made her snap out of her thoughts. A loud thud and a long creak.

'I just hope that the ceiling doesn't come down.. I have to free myself before anything else happens.'

But Luck wasn't with her.

There was another thud from above, much louder than before and a cloud of dust and debris fell down on her. Rei closed her eyes a second too late. When she opened them again, she cursed under her breath: her sight was blurred. She could see the vague outline of the things in front of her but nothing else. In this state, she couldn't free herself from the other pipe; what if she broke it accidentally? Rei could smell smoke: what if she blew up for the gas?

Panic was slowly trying to overtake her but she fought against it.

This was not the moment to loose her calm: she had to get her composure back.

After a couple of deep breaths, she decided to work on getting her sight back. She opened her eyes and tears began to stream down her face; she used her sleeve to dry them and tried to focus.

However, after a couple of minutes of this, she still saw through shades of gray. She realised that the dust or whatever it was, must have gone deep inside her eyes and that using her tears as a cleaner to get rid of it was not enough.

Rei sighed and coughed again. The scent of smoke was getting stronger.

But what could she do?

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'Where is that _damn_ house?'

Ryu dashed past the wall of trees and bushes where he, Rei, Shinichi and Shiho had hidden when escaping from the ambush. He was running as fast as he could, not knowing when the second explosion would occur. Then, he knew he was near.

He saw the flames. He smelled the acre scent of the smoke.

It was all so terribly familiar for him..

Ryu shook his head and ran forward. He found himself at the open space in front of the house.

The remains of Gin's and their rented car were there but among the bits of glass and metal, there were also wood splinters, some of which were still burning.

He looked up.

Vodka hadn't lied: the first explosion had occurred in the attic. He studied the situation for a minute. A part of the roof was dangling, willing to collapse to the ground: it was the right side of the house. The flames were quickly consuming the old wooden beams that held the rooftop. He was still analysing these details when he heard the fast approaching steps from behind him. Matt was by his side a second later, followed by the others.

"Well?" he asked, panting. Ryu merely pointed and that very moment, the unstable bit of roof and a bit of the façade's wall fell down to them.

"GET BACK!" Matt shouted and they hurried away, near the trees. With a enormous thud, the portion of the house crashed to the ground, a large cloud of dust rose high.

Dust from broken cement marred Ryu's vision as he walked to the front. He carefully treaded across the broken plaster, splintered dry wall and shards of sharp tiles; here and there, there were small flames and ash and soot were mingled to the dust.

If this was the doing of just one bomb, he didn't dare to think what would be of the house after all four explosions. One thought was in his mind now.

Find Rei.

Matt eyed Ryu and knew what he was thinking; he also knew that stopping him was impossible. His gaze turned to the entrance. It was a large door that must have once been of polished wood but that now was dusty and broken down with vines creeping on its sides; it was flanked by two thin stone pillars covered with moss and vines. Anyway, the entrance was half-blocked by the roof's debris and the front door had caught fire along with the vegetation that had grown over it and the pillars.

The only way into the mansion was through that door but if one crossed it through the flames, there were no chances of getting past without sustaining several burns. He adverted his gaze to the right and saw something by the wall that made his eyes light up.

In the meantime, Takagi and Satou had received calls from their men.

It seemed that they and the FBI agents had caught the remaining Organisation agents and gathered them in one spot. They were waiting for orders. The two detectives decided to make them stay in their position, guarding the captives and wait till the forces at the Bay came to help them. Chris had said the same, on Matt's order, to the FBI agents that called.

Heiji, Ran and Kazuha were standing under the shade of a large tree, watching the burning mansion in front of them. Heiji gritted his teeth and tightened his fists in frustration.

What had he done to help? Nothing. Was it possible that his role in the plan Kudo had exposed him was just to call his father?

Ran and Kazuha were thinking on the same lines. They had forced Xanders in taking them but they had been nothing more than a burden; a burden that had to be protected from enemies without mercy and against whom their skills were not enough to fight against.

Ryu suddenly moved and walked towards the front door not caring about the flames that were surrounding it. A shout made him turn to his right.

The next thing the engineer knew was that he was hit by a jet of cold water; the blast lasted for a dozen of seconds and when it stopped, Ryu was drenched to the skin. He looked in front of him and saw Matt holding a hose and closing the tap of the water pipe that was sticking from the ground right in front of the wall.

"Now you can go." the lawyer said, rushing to him, "And you shouldn't burn yourself too much."

Ryu smiled.

"Thanks, brother." he said and dashed to the entrance.

All the ones outside the house held their breath as they saw the boy get close and then jump past the flames. They dared to breath only when he was out of sight.

However, hardly a few minutes had passed and they hadn't even the time to decide what to do that the ground shook and another explosion took place.

Takagi managed to place himself in front of Satou and Ran while Heiji stood in front of Kazuha; Matt and Chris, who were a bit ahead of them and closer to the house, threw themselves on the ground and the boy shielded the girl with his jacket and his arms.

The boarded-up windows of the ground floor exploded, showering the ground with glass shards and wood splinters; flames erupted high and thick lines of black smoke reached the sky.

Matt and Chris got up, shaking the debris of their cloths. The boy looked at the entrance and the colour drained out of his face.

There wasn't an entrance anymore.

The explosion had made part of the façade cave in, covering the front door; the latter was burning intensely and Matt could see high flames behind it's frame.

They hadn't realised it but the seven minutes had passed and the bomb on the ground floor had set off.

"Ryu..." he muttered, running his fingers through his hair, "Rei..."

If Ryu had managed to get away before the explosion, if he found Rei alive, if everything went well, how the hell were they going to get out of that fiery building now that the only entrance and, much to Matt's horror as he realised it, the only exit didn't exist anymore?

How?

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Ryu ran towards the front door and jumped past the flames, without bothering too much to the sudden heat that caressed his body. He found himself in a long hallway that was fire-free. Ryu remembered that the first bomb was in the attic, so that explained it.

He walked on and noticed that the mansion was bigger than he thought from the outside.

There were three large rooms and a kitchen, or at least what had to be one, on this floor. The house must have been inhabited for decades because it had gone.. wild: vines, moss and even small clumps of bushes poked out of the wooden floor's gnarled holes. As he passed near the decadent kitchen, Ryu stopped, remembering that Vodka had said about the last bomb connected to the gas lines. He checked the old cupboard under the rusty sink and then the long cupboard by the grimy window; here he found the old gas pipes and attached to them with some grey tape was a small black box.

A small smile appeared on Ryu's face: he had already seen a bomb like this; dismantling it wouldn't be a problem. He reached for the inner pockets of his jacket and pulled out a small penknife, one of the first gifts he had received from the Xanders. He cut the tape and put the box on the rickety table next to him; he unscrewed the lid and found a dozen coloured wires inside. Knowing what to do and without hesitation, Ryu cut a wire and disabled the bomb.

'If I find the other two..' he thought, 'It would be most better.'

He walked out of the kitchen and noticed the staircase leading to the second floor; as he turned to go to it, he froze on the spot.

A soft and fast beeping sound that he hadn't noticed before, reached his ears.

It came from somewhere behind him.

Ryu suddenly realised that ten minutes had passed from the first explosion. Without thinking any longer, he ran towards the stairs but he knew that it was late.

He had hardly reached the first step when the bomb exploded.

The shock wave made him loose his balance, practically throwing him against the wall and then on the stairs; he hit the ground face front and felt blood pour from his nose down to his mouth. He hastily wiped it away and got to his feet. He heard glass going into pieces and saw a whirl of fire coming out of the first room next to the front door; the flames were heading towards him. Ryu ran up the stairs, avoiding to be hit by the falling debris; as he was going up the second flight of steps, he dodged to his right as a fiery wooden beam swung towards him. But as he did so, he didn't notice the dangling bit of plaster and wood above him; it fell down and hit him on the shoulders and the head, making him pass out.

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Rei squinted trying to regain a proper vision but her efforts were vain: she still saw in shades of grey. In addition to the her already complicated situation, she could tell that the fire from the upper floor was spreading to this one: smoke was clearly overcoming air.

As she coughed, she thought again if there still was a way for her to free herself and get away. She was desperately trying to find a hint, an idea or anything similar in her fear-fogged brain. But the last sparks of hope left her shortly after.

The floor shook under her feet and the reverberating sound of an explosion echoed throughout the house again. The far corner of the room she was imprisoned in, exploded from below and a tower of fire spurt out; Rei let out a scream, startled by the event. If there had been gas lines there, she would be dead. Fire spread to the dangling door, to the floor and, much to Rei's horror, to the wood panels that adorned the walls and that she hadn't noticed before.

It was the end.

There couldn't be a way out now even if she spent all her remaining time mulling on it. That room, now cage of fire would be the last place she would ever see.

Tears of desperation streamed down Rei's face as she took in her fate.

Waiting immobile for death to come.

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Shinichi stopped abruptly as he heard another explosion.

Shiho whipped around to look at the house in the distance.

The boy didn't know that two other explosions were expected nor he knew that they were signs. The girl knew all about it and also knew that at the third one, she and her best friend would have died.

The detective ran desperately, repeating to himself that he would be able to be at the right place at the right time. The chemist turned to face her soon-to-be murderer, feeling resigned but a tiny shred of hope continued to resist in her heart.

Both thought simultaneously of the person they most cared of.

'Shinichi..'

'Shiho!'

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_Fire.. _

_Great flames enveloped the floor, the smoke was so thick that he couldn't see properly and he couldn't breathe well either. The heat was unbearable._

_But then, he heard her again._

_She was screaming in terror, asking his help. He ran towards her room and stopped at her door. She was on her bed, hurdled in a corner, terrified with her face wet with tears. The fire had spread everywhere: the furniture, the curtains, the carpets.. The flames were slowly edging to the bed and the sheets. She looked up and noticed him outside the door and her light blue eyes lit up with hope._

_"Oni-chan!" she shouted, "Help me!"_

_"I'm coming!" he yelled back, "Don't worry, I will save you!"_

_The little girl nodded, trusting him completely. He covered his head with hands ready to cross the door despite the flames on the top of it when he heard a loud creaking sound coming from above him; he only had the time to jump back as a few beams of roof crashed in front of him, obstructing the doorway. Some splinters of wood hit him on the face and arms and he started bleeding from the cuts but he didn't bother to them that much. He looked with horror as the beams caught fire._

_The only way to get into the room was through that door..._

_He stepped closer but couldn't go past it._

_The pleas and cries became louder._

_"Oni-chan!"_

_He steeled himself: he had to save her. He had to get past that fiery door, no matter how badly he would get burnt. But as he decided to step forward, the fire crackled and a few sparks flew towards him. He jumped back, trembling as he looked at the fiery door frame._

_His mind and heart were telling to go but his body didn't want to listen. He was rooted on the spot._

_With fear._

_He began to cough as the smoke was filling the hallway and then he heard her again._

_Her scream of terror would never leave him again._

_"ONI-CHAN!" Terror and fear were clear in the child's voice._

_"FRANÇOISE!" he shouted back._

_He didn't remember well what happened afterwards. He finally got himself to go past the door but the flames were too high. He had a coughing fit and then, slowly, everything went black._

_In the utter darkness he continued to hear the heartbreaking pleas of his younger sister but suddenly he heard something different._

_Another scream... _

_From a girl. _

_But it wasn't Françoise._

_He knew that voice..._

"Rei!"

Ryu's eyes snapped open.

He was lying on the floor, by the wall, covered with cement and dust; he felt his head sore and his shoulders were aching painfully. He got up and saw that the lower banisters and stairs were on fire and a thick cloud of smoke was rising. He looked up to the second floor.

That wasn't a dream. He had really heard her voice.

"Rei.." he whispered and went upstairs. As he walked, he realised that the dust, cement, soot and whatsoever had mingled with his soaked clothes, making him look frighteningly ghost-like.

As he got to the upper floor, he realised that the house was much more bigger than he imagined: there were at least six rooms here, three to his left and three or so to his right.

'Where are you, Rei?' he thought, turning left and looking in the first room that was empty.

He had to be quick. He didn't know how long he had been knocked out but the third explosion hadn't still occurred and he didn't know how much time he had left.

Ryu had finally grasped the reason of the strange time combination for the explosions.

The first one was in the attic: it had to destroy or partly destroy the roof; the second one was in the ground floor: it had to block the entrance and unable any attempt of entering or exiting the mansion; the third one was in the middle floor: it was meant to make the entire structure unstable. The last bomb was connected to the gas lines. Surely, the lines went through the whole mansion because of the heating system; if one line exploded, the others would have followed suite and nothing would have remained of the building except for a mount of rubble and dust.

No clues would have been left.

No bodies could be collected.

No way to identify or have a hint of the culprits.

It was all so typically Organisation-like.

'And this is Koizumi's idea to hide Rei's murder.' Ryu thought with anger as he sprinted past two empty rooms.

Time was passing.

'Where are you, Rei?' he wondered, 'Where the hell are you?'

He began to cough as a cloud of dust fell on him from the ceiling. The building was old and the inner structure attacked by the fire was giving away; it was only a question of time before the roof would fall down along with the floor's ceilings.

On his right, Ryu noticed a room not far from the staircase leading to the attic. The fire was burning fiercely and had consumed most of the staircase but it had also attacked the nearby wall and the room's door.

He walked to it with a sense of foreboding.

It was all so terribly familiar...

As he approached the door, the wooden frame collapsed, blocking the way inside with a large fiery cross. He stopped in front of it and saw her in front of the wall.

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Matt watched the flames as they were devouring the ground floor.

Every cell of his body was praying that Ryu had got away before the explosion. A growing sense of uselessness was overcoming him. Was it possible that he had to wait for Ryu and Rei to get in danger without helping them in anyway? Again?

"There has to be a way.." he muttered. Chris, who was next to him, turned her head.

"What?" she asked.

"We have to do something." he said, "I don't know what but.. something." He looked at her: frustration and concern clear in his green eyes. "We can't just wait here."

Chris looked at him and then at the burning house.

"The last bomb was connected to the gas lines, right? Heiji pitched in the conversation, speaking in English so that Chris could understand as well.

"Yes." Mat said, "But what..?"

"These kind of old houses have the main gas line outside. If we close it.."

"The bomb won't bring down the whole building." Chris completed, "The last explosion should be the most devastating but if there's no gas.."

"The mansion will not collapse." Matt remarked.

"And the firemen could be here in time to set it off." Heiji said.

"Firemen?" Matt and Chris asked together.

"Detective Takagi called them a few minutes ago." Matt turned around to look at Takagi who smiled sheepishly, "They said they would try to get here as fast as possible."

Detective Satou approached them.

"We'll set out to find the gas line." she said, pointing to her and Takagi, "We can use our weapons if necessary."

"All right but be careful." Matt said. The two detectives nodded and ran to the back of the house. "As for me, I know what to do."

He removed his black jacket, threw it on the ground, next to th rifle that Heiji had left there and headed to the hose. He turned it on and aimed the jet of water to the nearest window to extinguish the flames. Chris walked past him towards a small shed, hidden by the vines and bushes; she tried to open it but the doorknob seemed to be blocked. After a few attempts it opened, revealing a spare hose and a few rusty buckets.

She looked around; if her deductions were correct, then nearby there should be...

Chris smiled as she saw a vine covered large stone with a metal cover on it. She turned to Heiji, Ran and Kazuha.

"Hey, can you help me?" she asked. The three hurried towards her and they pushed the metal cover, ripping the vines that bound it until it fell on the ground; it was the cover of a well. An ancient rope was attached to an old bucket that was down in the dark pitch black hole. Heiji pulled the rope up and saw that the bucket was full of water. Chris appeared, carrying the rusty buckets and put them on the ground.

"Fill them up." she said and he nodded, pouring the water in one of them. The American girl took of her blue jacket and sweater, revealing a dark blue t-shirt and put them on the ground; she took the bucket, walked close to the nearest window and threw the water against the flames. Ran and Kazuha did the same, both taking a bucket each while Heiji kept filling them with water. Matt moved to another window and worked on extinguishing the flames.

"Be careful for any falling debris!" he yelled to the others who nodded.

This was their only way of helping the others. Putting out the fire and trying to free the entrance.

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Rei was waiting.

She waited death to come and take her. Tears were pouring down her eyes as she realised that she would never see her friends and dear ones again.

Yukiko-san and Yusaku-san, Agase, Shiro-san, Chris, Matt, Shinichi, Shiho and.. Ryu.

Rei cried at the thought that she would never see him again. Talk to him. Nothing.

She realised that he had always been there for her.

Every time in America. Before an examination at university, during the training tests at FBI and even when she had to work on the Organisation's files, Ryu was there. If she didn't count the months when they had lost contacts, the period when the Organisation had just found out of MYSTERY, forcing Ryu to leave America, she realised that he had always helped her. It was a word or just that smile of his but it was enough to calm her down and let her do what she had to do. But she couldn't blame him for not being there, could she? She didn't want him to die in the attempt of saving her.

The only consolation she had was that she would meet her parents again. It was the only good thing she could think of, the only ray of light in the darkness that was enfolding her.

She coughed again: the air was unbreathable with the increasing amount of smoke. She was also sweating because the fire was getting closer to her and the heat was rising alarmingly.

Rei looked around: her sight hadn't got better. It was cruel that she had to live her last moments looking at the world in shades of grey rather than in all it's colours. She closed her eyes, thinking that it was better waiting like this when something happened.

Rei's head jerked up.

'That was.. no, impossible.' she thought, 'Maybe I'm hallucinating.'

Did she just hear... _a cough?_ Who would be there?

The small spark of hope that had persisted in her heart, without her knowing, shone brighter. She turned to the door and saw the door frame collapse. When the flames and sparks steadied, she saw a figure, standing outside the room. She couldn't tell who it was due to her blurry and unfocused sight but she recognised the voice immediately.

"REI!"

He was there for her once again.

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James Fabian was driving his car at top speed; behind him were two other cars and three mini-vans. A total of forty FBI agents, fresh from the raid at the Bay of Tokyo. They were the ones that didn't sustain serious injuries or wounds and that had been chosen by Inspector Xanders to join his son and help him out. Fabian had volunteered to go and Xanders had made him chief of the group.

He smiled slightly as he remembered the Inspector's last words before leaving.

FLASHBACK

"There should be some captured agents. I don't know if you can manage to bring all of them back.. Call me when you get there so that I can send you more vehicles and, James..." Inspector Xanders lowered his voice so that only Fabian could hear him. "As soon as you see him, call me and tell me if Matt's fine. And same for Ryu."

"All right, Mark." James answered, "It'll be the first thing I do."

END FLASHBACK

James and Mark were friends since high school and they had attended the courses to enter FBI.

The pair of them couldn't be more opposite.

James was impulsive and aggressive but with a natural charisma that made him nearly impossible not to like. Mark was calm, cool and well adjusted. But together they were a potent force. They had been partners for years and not one criminal had ever managed to get past them. Their ability was widely renown and many believed that the two agents would have had the most brilliant of careers. As a matter of fact, after five years of service, they were both offered a promotion to become Inspectors. At this point, the two found themselves in a dilemma: if they accepted the promotion, their 'duo' would have been split up forever for one of them would have been sent to another headquarter. In that occasion, James did something that Mark would have never forgotten and that showed that friendship was not just a word.

James refused the promotion and asked to be put in Mark's working squad. When asked the reason of such a decision, he would laugh saying that a hot-head like him couldn't resist behind a desk or giving orders to newbies; Xanders was better for that role and it was also better if he earned more since he had a wife and a small son while he didn't.

Never had been choice more right.

Inspector Xanders quickly earned his collaborators and colleagues' respect: his resourcefulness and intellect added to his leadership qualities made him a grand commander. Detective James was, as in past, his right hand: he was the hands-on man, the one that lead the actions on the ground. His indomitable will and outstanding courage, or recklessness as Mark had more than once pointed out , were widely renown. Their squad was one of the most efficient in New York.

And two years ago, other worthy additions had come. Matt and Ryu, Mark's sons and Reila Ikeda.

James was proud of the three because, despite their young age, they were very talented. He was particularly fond of Matt, his godson.

He seemed to have inherited his father's best qualities and many said that there would be two Inspector Xanders in another few years time. James was among the ones that were sure of it.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed smoke coming from somewhere in front of him. Experience had taught him that it was never a good omen. He sped on as an unknown sense of dread coursing through his body.

A few minutes later, he heard a muffled boom in the distance. This was it.

'Some thing's going on down there..' he thought and reached for his transceiver. Holding the steering wheel with a hand, he turned the device on and tried to make a connection.

_-Fabian here.-_ he said, _-Matt, do you here me?-_

A low buzzing sound replied to his question so he tried again.

_-Matt, answer me.-_

This time he heard something: a female voice that he vaguely recognised. Wasn't she the computer scientist that was in Scott's squad? The girl that was a friend of Matt?

-_Evans speaking. Who is it?-_

_-Fabian here.-_

_-Detective Fabian? What is it, sir?- _

_-Where's Matt, Evans?-_

_-Right here, sir. I'll pass him to you.-_

James the buzzing again and shortly after Matt's voice.

_-Who is it?- _he asked. James noticed a hint of anguish and tiredness in his tone.

-_Matt, what's going on there?-_

_-Uncle James?- _Relief was audible in his tone._ -Oh, God.. you have no idea..-_

The boy quickly explained what had happened: the mansion, the bombs, Rei trapped in, Ryu inside to save her and trapped as well.

_-The Japanese police officers here with me have called the firemen but I don't think they'll be here in less than twenty minutes; Chris, I and the others here are trying to put out the fire in the meanwhile with what we have.-_

_-We'll be there shortly. Wait another couple of minutes.-_

_-All right.- _Matt said. After a bit of silence he resumed to speak. _-Uncle James, try to have an helicopter and an ambulance come here.-_

_-Why?-_ Fabian asked in alarm. _-Is someone hurt?-_

_-No.. not badly at least but... I have the feeling that it might happen soon.-_ His tone was serious and full of concern,_ -Just do it, please.-_

_-All right, see you later.-_

_-Bye.-_

James reached for his mobile phone. Matt's feelings have more than once turned out to be true.

He sincerely hoped that he would be wrong this time.

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Shinichi kicked a stone with badly suppressed anger. It flew down the ravine he was standing in front of and hit a few rocks below with a sharp click.

What had gone wrong? And most of all, _where was he?_

He had followed the signal of Shiho's device through a maze of trees and had stopped cautiously only when he was a few steps away; he had drawn out his gun, making sure that the silencer was applied and had also charged his stun-gun with a hypodermic needle. He had crept past a few trees and peered out from behind a log, sure to see Gin and Shiho but instead he saw..

Nothing.

Nobody was there.

He was in a small open space, coasted by trees and with a deep ravine below him.

In the distance he saw tall trees and lines of smoke; he presumed they came from the mansion. But there was no sign of Shiho or of any other person; judging by the blank, dry ground, he also realised that no one must have been there for ages.

Shinichi clicked on his glasses: two yellow dots were nearly touching each other.

'She's here..' he thought, 'Somewhere close.. but where?'

He had thought for a heart-stopping moment that she might have lost her chain; maybe Gin had forced her to take it off, suspicious of the small star on it but his fears were canceled when he saw her signal move a bit. If it moved it meant that she was still wearing it.

But the point was, where was she?

He looked up and noticed another cliff poking out of the rocks; he couldn't see the top of it but only the lower part. He also noticed that it was perpendicular to his position. What if she was there?

Shinichi didn't know how to get up there; if he started to find another path, Gin might have killed Shiho by the time he arrived. He had to get up there in some other way.

"Yeah, but how..?" he muttered to himself.

_"I can help you, meitantei-san."_

Shinichi jumped, startled by the sudden voice behind him. He turned and saw Kaitou Kid leaning on a tree log, hands crossed on his chest, top hat covering his monocle-free eye and his trademark smirk on his face. The detective stared at him.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he demanded, approaching him.

"Kazama thought I could help you." the magician replied.

"He sent you after me?"

"Yes."

Shinichi shook his head.

"No, you should go back and help him." he said, "Rei's trapped in that mansion and your hang-glider could be helpful. By the way, I just heard another explosion; God knows how many more there will be."

"I do." Kid replied with a dark face, "I heard Vodka telling it to Kazama through my transceiver."

He quickly told Shinichi about the bombs and everything; the detective paled.

"Kid, you have to go there." he repeated, "Ryu and Rei definitely need your aid more than I do."

"I'll go back but first, I'll take you up to Miyano."

"Shiho's really up there?"

"I saw two figure standing there but I couldn't be noticed so I got down before seeing exactly who they were. Anyway, I think one was Miyano."

"All right but remember: you just have to leave me there, Kid. Afterwards, you just fly off to the mansion. Am I clear?"

"Yeah, I got it."

The two boys looked at each other and then up at the cliff.

Now they just had to get there.

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Takagi and Satou were walking side by side, looking for the main gas pipe.

They occasionally looked around, making sure that no one was following them and were careful not to be hit by the bits of rubble and flaming wood that fell from the roof.

Only now, as they were alone, they were finally taking in the situation they had so suddenly found themselves mingled in. The thought that everything had started only that morning seemed incredible: it was as though it had happened days ago.

Anyway, that morning they were both at work in Beika's Metropolitan Police Headquarters as usual. They had gone into Inspector Megure's office to hear if they had to do something when the phone rang. It was Detective Mouri who wanted to speak to Megure about a very important matter and asked him to come to his agency as soon as possible. Megure thought that they should come with him too and when they got there, they found out that Kogoroh hadn't called.

Takagi shook his head slightly.

'The Black Organisation..' he thought, 'I never heard of it but it seems that nearly every mysterious or unsolved crime was related to them.' He suppressed a shudder as he recalled what he had read about their activities on the report Agent Xanders had given them. 'But that was just a summary.. It was not even all of what they have done.'

"Takagi?"

The man looked up and turned to Satou.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Do you know Shinichi Kudo well?"

Quirking an eyebrow at the question, he nodded.

"Not _that_ well." he remarked, "Inspector Megure introduced us; I know he got to know him through his father, Yusaku Kudo. You know him, don't you?"

"The mystery novelist? Of course, I do." Satou replied, "But him, Kudo Shinichi, I have never seen him before if not through the papers or for the rumours about his exceptional deductions and sharpness during murder scenes."

"That's an understatement." Takagi observed, "You should see him in action: he's amazing. Really."

"Well, what I was saying is that I never met before but I have this strange feeling of reminiscence.. as though I know him already." She looked at her partner who shrugged. "It's strange but I also noticed that he looks oddly alike to.."

"Conan." Takagi finished. Satou nodded.

"Yes, him." she said, "When Kudo put the glasses on, I thought that I was looking at the teenage Conan Edogawa. I guess that's because the two are cousins."

Takagi looked at her in surprise.

"They're not." he said.

"What? Conan's not related to Kudo?" Satou stared at him."That's what I had always assumed. I mean, look at the way he behaved during the murder scenes, his sharpness, his knowledge and his deductions."  
"No, I don't think so. Otherwise, I would have known, don't you think so? Maybe, he knew all of that only because he lived with Detective Mouri and learned a bit from him."

"Yes. But what about that other girl? Ai Haibara?"

"What about her?"

"She was a lot like Conan-kun even though less cheerful and more brooding. She often came up with sharp pointing-outs just like him."

"Well, surely she's not related to Kudo-kun either. Maybe, to Professor Agase.. He helped solve some cases too." Takagi furrowed his brows as another thought crossed his mind. "Coming to think of Ai, don't you think that she looks like that girl.. Shiho Miyano?"

Satou thought this over: he was right. The same guarded expression, the same peculiar reddish-blond hair, the same cool light blue eyes.

"You are right." she said, "They are alike. Nearly like sisters."

"And... do you remember, when they left?" Takagi pressed on, eyes widening. "We were all in front of Agase's house and the kids' relatives came to pick them up: one was Conan-kun's mother while the other, Ai's relative.. if I'm not mistaken, it was.."

"Matt Xanders!" Satou stopped and looked at Takagi in awe, "That why I thought I had seen him before! He came to pick Ai!"

"I'm sure that two can't be related. I mean, they don't have any feature in common and their surnames are different."

"Then why..?"

"And there's also the codename business: two of them used the names Conan and Ai."

"Yes, but who..?"

The two detectives looked at each other.

They were both remembering what Agent Xanders had told them that morning about Kudo and the last year's events. A vague outline of the truth appeared in their minds but they had to admit that it was.. bizarre. Something that wasn't, couldn't be possible.

Satou was the first to pull herself together.

"We have to find the main gas line." she said.

"Oh.. yes." Takagi replied, "Anyway, I suppose we'll get answers soon."

They walked on and found the pipe shortly after. Satou was going to reach for it but Takagi stopped her; at her questioning look, he took of his jacket and used it to close the pipe that had reached a high temperature for the fire. When they were sure that it was closed, they hurried back to the mansion's entrance and saw Agent Xanders and Evans, Hattori, Toyama and Ran working to put out the fire of the ground floor. The two detectives joined to help, too: Takagi took Heiji's place to pull up the water and the boy and Satou took a bucket each and helped the girls.

Shortly after, two cars and three mini-vans appeared from the main road and a good number of FBI men hurried out of the vehicles to help them.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ryu looked at the fiery cross burning in front of him.

It was as though he had gone back in time, exactly to five years ago. He felt as though he was a twelve year old child again: a terrified, weak child that wanted to save his sister but couldn't bring himself to cross the fire and that was still too shocked after having witnessed the brutal murder of his parents.

That time, he had survived but they had all died.

Ryu looked inside the room and saw Rei, handcuffed to a pipe, unable to move; he clenched his fists tightly.

'It won't happen again.' he thought firmly.

He wouldn't let history to repeat itself. He wouldn't allow another person he cared for to die without doing anything. No, not again.

Gritting his teeth and steeling himself, Ryu got closer to the door, kicked the burning roof beams and jumped through the door. As though in slow motion, he saw the flames caress his body, he felt an unbearable heat but not pain due to burns or anything; he presumed that his water-soaked clothes were protecting him from getting seriously burnt. However, he did smell the sharp smell of burnt leather and of scorched hair. But he forgot all of this when his feet touched the ground and the temperature decreased a bit.

He was inside.

Without loosing time, Ryu got to his feet and rushed to Rei.

"Rei!" he said, "Are you all right?"

The girl looked at him. She was sweaty, covered in dust, blood trickled down her head and she looked exhausted; he noticed that her eyes were not bright as usual but were oddly unfocused as though she could not see well.

"Ryu.." she whispered, "What are you doing here?"

"A crash-course to become a fireman." he replied dryly and cupped her face with his hands,"What happened to you, Rei? What's wrong with your eyes?"

"Nothing, just some dust.. I think." she replied, "But without hands.."

At this, Ryu looked at her right hand handcuffed to a pipe and turned his gaze to her left; he saw a handcuff dangling from another pipe and he looked down at her left hand. It had turned a strange shade of purplish-red and had swollen twice it's normal size.

He felt anger boiling inside him at the thought of what Rei had to do to try to free herself.

"Stay still." he said, "And open your eyes wide."

Rei did as she was told and felt his breath across her face but mostly on her eyes; she instinctively shut them close but he urged her to open them again. He blew a few more times and then stopped. Eyes watering, Rei looked up at him.

"You should be able to see a bit better." he said, "Rei, turn to your left. I'll get you rid of this cuff."

She turned her head, tears streaming from her burning eyes and she heard a metallic click. Knowing what he had in his mind, Rei warned him.

"Ryu, these are gas lines." she said, coughing as she inhaled some smoke. "Be careful to where the bullet hits or we'll blow up."

"All right." he replied. He aimed his revolver at the handcuff, careful not to hit the pipe and also taking care that the bullet wouldn't bounce and hit them or another pipe. He fired and Rei's arm fell down, limp.

The girl felt as though, after the hours spent bound to wall, her limbs had lost their strength; she stood up but swayed slightly. Fortunately, Ryu caught her.

"What happened to you?" he asked again.

She looked up and finally got a good visual of him. She gasped.

"Me?" she asked incredulously. "What happened to _you_?"

"Nothing.." he replied in a reassuring tone, "Don't worry."

She reached out to his face with her good hand, wiping one of the lines of blood that was oozing down his front. He was covered with blood, dust, soot and some odd sandy, cream-like substance that she presumed was dust and cement mixed with water. "Why are you wet?"

"Matt. He soaked with a hose pipe. I should thank him: I managed to get here without being burnt to a crisp or worse."

"What's the situation?" Rei asked, somehow knowing that he had to know what was happening.

"It's a long story." he replied, "But what should concern us at the moment is getting out of here. There's still one explosion scheduled and right on this floor."

Rei looked at him.

"Another one?" she asked, "Geez, Koizumi really didn't want to let my body to be found." She gasped. "Koizumi! Ryu, he's escaping! He received a call saying that FBI was here and he..."

She got caught in a coughing fit: the room was filling with smoke and the flames were advancing.

"Breathe slowly." he said, lowering her down on the ground, "And don't worry of him now."

"Is.. is there... a way out?" she asked between coughs.

"The entrance's blocked from the debris of the second explosion and by the flames." he replied, "If you want the truth, I have no idea of how to get out from here and we don't have much time. How much has passed since the last explosion?"

"I don't know. Five, six minutes I think."

"Damn it, then we have less than five minutes before the next one."

Ryu got up and walked to the window: he couldn't open it nor see anything because the panel was covered by a thick layer of grime. Gritting his teeth, he turned to the door: the fire had devoured the door and the door frame and was now attacking the walls; the room's far corner was already blazing with high flames. Smoke had filled the room to half it's height.

Rei was sitting on the ground where Ryu had left her, leaning on the wall and coughing loudly. She was exhausted, she felt as though there wasn't an ounce of energy left in her body.

The physical and emotional strain of the last hours had overcome her more than the months she had passed hiding from the Organisation.

Her weakness was noticed by Ryu who was concerned. He realised that they had split up in the woods hours ago: if Rei had been bound to that wall since then, he wasn't surprised to see in this state; the tension added to her attempts to free herself, her swollen hand and her other wounds were getting over her. They had to get away soon.

He looked around the room again as a rather loud creak from above was heard.

Yes, but how?

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"Understood how to use it?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure, Kudo?"

"_Yes_."

"Look it's not that I can find that everywhere nor can I get it repaired so..."

"For the tenth time, Kid: I _understood_ how to use it!"

"All right, all right! Cool down, man! Geez, aren't you touchy."

"Touchy? _Me_?"

"Never mind.."

"Shouldn't you be going to the mansion? The next explosion is due in a few minutes."

"Yes." Kid walked to the edge of the ravine, hidden to the upper cliff and opened his hang-glider. He turned around. "Listen: as soon as I'm done there, I'll get back or ask someone to get here."

A smirk crossed the other's features.

"Worried for me, Kid?" he asked.

"I'm wondering why now, meitantei." the thief replied with a frown. He was ready to leave.

"Hey!" Kid turned around and saw a small smile on the other's face, "Help the others and take care."

"Same for you. Get Miyano back and try not to get killed by Gin." A smirk appeared on his face. "Or I'll loose my only worthy challenger."

"Don't worry. I won't give you that pleasure." There was a moment of silence. "Thanks.. Kuroba."

"Don't even mention it. See you later, Kudo."

And the magician flew low on his hang-glider towards the burning mansion, leaving the detective on the lower cliff.

Shinichi looked up.

'I'm coming, Shiho..'

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Ryu coughed as the smoke began to fill the room more and more.

Time was passing and he didn't have a clue of how to get out of that fiery hell; the ceiling was giving ominous creaks and was threatening to fall down any second; moreover, the next bomb was going to set off soon.

If they didn't get out soon, they would have died in the worst of ways.

He glanced at Rei and saw that she was still leaning to the wall but with her eyes closed and she was motionless. Fear swelled inside him and his heart stopped beating for a few seconds as he dashed to her, crouching down and taking her by the shoulders.

"Rei!" he called, shaking her, "Rei, don't sleep! _Don't_ close your eyes! Stay awake! Please, don't

give up now: _stay awake_!"

The girl's eyelids flickered and his heart leapt.

"Ryu.." she whispered feebly.

"Rei.." he said in relief, "God, you scared the hell out of me. Don't close your eyes, understood?"

"Yes... but.. isn't it getting too hot in here?"

"What? Yes, but not that mu.." He stopped, realising what was happening. He didn't feel the heat because of his drenched clothes but Rei did. And it was another thing that undermined her already weakened strength: she was slowly loosing all liquids from her body. Without thinking of it any longer, Ryu took off his leather jacket and draped it on Rei's shoulders. She looked at him with mild puzzlement and weariness.

"You should feel a bit cooler now." he said, "The leather's a bit burnt but the fabric still soaked. It should help you."

"Thanks." she whispered and he smiled slightly and got up. Now, he _did_ feel the heat of the room: his grey shirt was wet but not as much as the jacket and the water was quickly evaporating; wiping a trickle of sweat and blood from his face, he looked around the room again as though hoping that a door with the sign 'Exit' on the top would pop out of nowhere.

Rei glanced at his back as he stood in front of her. She knew that there couldn't be a way to get out of there and he must be aware of that as well; nevertheless, he was trying the same, trying to find a loophole in the Organisation's plan. A small smile grazed her faced.

It was all so typical of Ryu: determined to the core and always sure that there's hope. It was one of his qualities that she admired, envied and loved the most: seeing a point of light, hope, even in the darkest of moments, even when no other seemed to believe in it.

She was abruptly snapped out of her thoughts by a loud creak coming from somewhere above them. She looked up and saw, much to her horror, that the fragment of ceiling was cracked: flames were visible through the holes and it seemed that it was going to fall down that very moment.

Right on top of Ryu.

Gathering all her strength, Rei got up and still leaning on the wall for support, she called the boy.

"Ryu!" she shouted, "The ceiling!"

The boy turned to her the second he heard his name and then, looked up. A large chunk of ceiling got unstuck with a loud creak and fell down. Ryu had barely a second of warning: he jumped back, joining Rei by the wall. The fallen fragment crashed on the floor, lifting a cloud of dust and soot that made the two teens cough their heads off.

Ryu looked at Rei.

"Remember me... to treat you a dinner... once we're out of here." he said between coughs. Rei shook her in amused disbelief, coughing as well.

But that wasn't the worst..

Through the hole on the ceiling, burning bits of wood and every odd flammable item came flying down, showering them with sparks; it was like a storm but instead of water, the drops were of fire.

The intensity of the flames increased with the continuous arrival of flammable material and the fire extended to the room's first fire-free areas because of the sparks. The level of smoke was unbelievable: it seemed that there wasn't any air left.

Ryu and Rei found themselves side by side in the only remaining spot where the fire hadn't yet come while a flamy ring surrounded them and a thick black cloud hovered over them.

As Rei coughed hard again, Ryu realised that they only had one way to get out of that situation. He eyed the window in front of him. It was an utter madness, they could die in the attempt but it was the only way.

The only one.

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"Careful down there! That piece looks like it's going to come down any minute!"

"More water over here!"

"Work harder with those spades!"

The front side of the mansion was full of FBI agents working to put out the fire along with Matt, Chris, Heiji, Kazuha, Ran and Detectives Satou and Takagi. The firemen were yet to come and they had decided to try their best till their arrival; a couple of spades were found in the shed and were used to shovel sand; a few rather ingenious men had created a rudimentary pump that they had quickly connected to the well with a rubber tube and that allowed now them to use the spare hose.

Since not all the men could help, Detective Fabian sent them to retrieve the captives, guarded by their colleagues, and bring them to the cars; with Matt's help and with a map in hand, he sent the men in the forest. Then, he took a spade himself and started to work, shoveling large amounts of sand inside the nearest window while Matt put out the flames with the hose.

However, the boy realised that their work was fruitless. The flames rather than lessening were increasing minute after minute and he also realised that the next explosion was due to be in a couple of minutes more or less.

He was still mulling over this thought when the noise of glass shattering to pieces and a few shouts made him abruptly come back to reality. He looked around wondering what was going on and saw something flying out of a window.

"GET BACK!" he yelled. The object crashed to the ground, breaking in different pieces not far from where Matt was and he approached it.

The boy stopped next to it and blinked. Twice.

It was a chair. An old wooden chair that, he noticed, didn't seem to be burning or anything. At this point, Matt looked up.

"Where did this just come from?" he asked to a nearby agent.

"Second floor." he replied.

'The second floor..' Matt thought, 'Wait a minute.. Rei's in the second floor! So, Ryu has got to her! But.. this.. Don't tell me that.. No, that's not.. is it?'

He stared at the window, eyes widening.

"No way in hell..." he muttered, "That idiot has lost his mind!"

Quite a few people turned to him since the last sentence had been nearly shouted.

James Fabian got near him.

"Matt, what the _hell's_ wrong with you?" he asked sharply.

"Ryu!" he exclaimed, "He and Rei are going to get out of that bloody house through the window!" And before the man could say anything, he turned to the men around them. "Hey, stop working! We'll think of the fire afterwards! All men get below that window: we have to catch those two!"

The men did as they were told though they were a bit confused. Matt in the meanwhile, looked at the window again. Lines of thick smoke were coming out of it.

"Ryu, I'm sure this idea comes from you." he muttered, "Make sure to make it through alive because we'll have to have a chat about these sudden, mad brainwaves of yours, brother of mine."

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Rei watched through burning eyes as Ryu dashed forward through the fire, seized the fallen chair on the ground and threw it against the window. She heard the glass shatter to pieces and felt a breeze of clean, fresh air caress her. Unfortunately, it didn't last long because the dense smoke overtook the little air. She coughed again and found herself taking small, sharp breaths rather than long ones because breathing was becoming painful to her. She realised that she must inhaled much more smoke than she thought and that she was lacking of oxygen; this would explain the dizziness that had been torturing her for a while. She didn't voice this loud though because she didn't want Ryu to worry about her now: he was too concentrated on trying to save them.

In the amidst of crackling of fire, burning wood and creaks she heard a familiar beeping noise. Rei froze: it was stronger than the one she had heard before.

Ryu turned to her, tensed as well: he had heard it too.

"Rei, we.." he said, coughing, "We don't have other choice but throw ourselves out the window."

The girl nodded, unable to speak: a sudden lump was caught in her throat and she was sure that it wasn't due to fear. Rei looked up and saw that her sight was slowly dimming as her dizziness increased more. She felt Ryu take his jacket off her shoulders and cover her head with it; he bent down to look at her.

"I swear that it will all go well." he said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone and with a faint smile. Rei forced a smile, taking in his features as her sight was blacking out; she felt him carry her in his arms, burying her face in his chest.

"Off we go, Rei." he whispered and put her hand on her head, bringing her closer to him. She didn't reply but Ryu didn't notice that detail. He heard the beeping sound accelerate.

Without waiting anymore he ran towards the window, holding Rei tightly in his arms and didn't bother much as the flames caressed his body though he did feel the heat.

He dived out a second later.

-

Matt, Fabian, Heiji, Takagi and the ten or so men that were there, were all hurdled under the window from which the chair had flew out. They hadn't found anything to soften Ryu and Rei's fall so they decided to catch them themselves. At least, they hoped so: the window was a good seven- eight meters high and putting together Ryu and Rei's weight and the force of gravity, it was like trying to catch a falling piano.

They suddenly heard glass shattering again and Ran and Kazuha screamed. Everybody's head jolted upwards and they saw Ryu jump out; he seemed to be carrying Rei but the thing that shocked most was that his shirt was on fire.

"BE READY!" Detective Fabian roared. Every man was ready to catch the fiery human ball that was falling towards them. As he was doing so, something caught Matt's eye.

From somewhere from east, a white blur appeared; it looked like a large, white, overgrown bird. Only when it drew closer, he recognised who it was.

"Kid!" he exclaimed, "God, I've never been so glad to see him!"

-

Kaito was flying at top speed, not bothering to hear the yells from below him but only looking at the fiery figure of Ryu and Rei. He tightened the grip on his hang-glider's steerer and pushed forward, diving down to them.

Ryu saw him coming and held out his free hand. Kaito saw that he was sweating profusely and his face was kind-of screwed in pain due to his burning shirt. The magician balanced himself on one hand and stretched out his other hand to grasp the other boy's one.

Below them, there was an unnatural eerie silence.

Everyone was holding their breath as they saw the two boys hands extending to touch each other; Ryu and Rei were still a meter or so below the window when Kaito managed to grasp Ryu's hand tightly in his own.

There was a roar of delight from the ones on the ground but it died instantly.

No longer than a second later, the third bomb exploded and Kid, Ryu and Rei were thrown away by the shock wave, far from the men waiting under the window who had to instantly protect themselves with their hands to avoid to get hurt by the shower of dust, glass shards, wood splinters, rubble and debris that fell over them.

-

Kaito and Ryu were still hand in hand as they were thrown away: a wave of hot air seemed to be pushing them far away. However, Kaito still had a bit a manoeuvrability on his hang-glider; steering it so that they wouldn't go crashing on the ground at that speed, he managed to slow them a bit. Unfortunately, he couldn't let them avoid the obstacles: the cars parked there by James' squad.

Ryu managed to turn so that he would have taken the hit instead of Rei and steeled himself: he crashed against Fabian's car, breaking the front mirror into pieces, making an impression on the metallic surface and modifying the car's elegant structure quite a bit. He gasped in pain and left Kaito's hand but he didn't leave Rei.

The magician flew fast forward and crashed against the side of one of the mini-vans; his hang-glider pretty much crumpled against the vehicle, the strong material that covered it was ripped and the metallic structure penetrated into the van's door. Kaito hit the doors with his shoulders and back : he gasped in pain and fell to the ground, his monocle and top hat flying in different directions.

Neither of them moved.

-

Matt swore a string of insults as he saw Kid, Ryu and Rei crash against the cars.

He dashed towards them, wincing as his leg had decided that this was the right moment to remember him that he was injured, and was followed by Chris, James and the other people.

"Chris, get to Kid." Matt whispered hurriedly, "No one must know his identity."

The girl dashed past the first car and hurried to the magician: he was still lying motionlessly on the ground. She immediately crouched down beside him.

"Kid!" she said, shaking him gently. "Come on, wake up wake up!" She breathed in relief when she saw him move his hand and groan. Kaito slowly sat up and looked at her. Chris was visibly surprised to see his face: he looked amazingly alike to Shinichi Kudo; however, she quickly brushed the thought away and picked up his monocle and hat and handed them to him.

"Here, put them on." she said.

"Thanks, Evans." he replied softly in English, getting up.

"How are you feeling?"

"As though I've been trampled by a herd of horses."

Chris smiled and helped him up; when he swayed a bit out of balance, she held him up, putting his hand over his shoulders.

"Come on." she said, walking slowly.

"Thanks, Evans." he said again.

"It's Christine, Kid." she corrected him, "Chris for friends."

The boy smiled slightly.

"Well..Chris... then, don't call me Kid." he said, after a bit, "It's Kaito. Kaito Kuroba."

Chris looked at him. Revealing her his real name, he endangered himself very much. She smiled at him, as though telling him that she could trust him.

"All right, Kaito." she whispered and he smiled back.

They walked slowly to the group of people hurtled around Detective Fabian's car.

-

Matt skidded to an halt in front of James' car.

Ryu was spread-eagle on the car's front with blood trickling down his head, Rei in his arms in the same position, half-covered by a burnt leather jacket.

Dread washed through him as he approached them.

"Ryu! Rei!" he called, "Come on, wake up!"

He slowly untangled Ryu's arm from Rei, lifted her up and put her on the ground; Chris, after having left Kaito standing nearby, knelt down beside her. Matt reached for Ryu, heaved him down on the ground and ripped off his shirt, that was still burning in certain points, leaving him with a white, blood stained t-shirt on, and tried to reanimate him.

"Ryu! Ryu!" he called, "Come on, brother, wake up!"

The blonde opened his eyes slowly.

"Matt..?" he whispered.

"Thanks God, you're alive!" the lawyer exclaimed, "You... _you_.. you _fool_ of a brother! What the hell were you thinking to jump out of a seven meters high window?"

Ryu slowly got up, wincing as every bone of his body seemed to be aching.

"At least, we've managed to get out alive, didn't we?" he asked with a ghost of a smirk on his face.

Matt looked at him for a whole minute; then, he broke into a smile.

"Sure." he replied, "As usual your mad ideas work."

Ryu slowly shook his head, trying to shake off the low whistling in his ears, due to the explosion he presumed. Then, his eyes widened.

"Rei!" he said, turning to Matt, "How is she?"

The boys turned to their left and saw Chris crouched over Rei.

"Chris, how is she?" Ryu asked in English, "Why didn't she wake up yet?

The girl turned around and the boy knew that something was wrong. And so did Matt.

"What's wrong?" he asked, "Chris, what's wrong with Rei?"

The girl glanced at the two with fearful eyes.

"She's not breathing."

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The third explosion echoed throughout the silent woods.

Shiho didn't even turn to look at the house this time; she stayed still and faced Gin colourlessly.

The man looked almost gleeful, if you can say so. He caressed his gun and aimed it towards her.

"As promised, my dear Sherry, I will let you join your friend Ikeda." he drawled, "And also your dear sister."

Rage coursed through Shiho's body at the taunt on her sister; rage that nearly cancelled her fear.

"_Don't_ you dare speak of her." she hissed.

Gin sneered.

"Why? Does it matter now?" he asked tauntingly, "You are going to die, Sherry. You should care of yourself not of who's already dead." He loaded his gun and pointed it to her. "Goodbye, Sherry."

Shiho waited, knowing that there wasn't anything else to do. He would have pressed the trigger, the muffled shot would have been heard and the bullet would have hit her.

'And I will die.' she thought, helplessly, 'One-chan, we'll meet soon... I'm on my way.'

But it didn't happen.

She did hear a shot but it came from somewhere else.

_Under_ them?

Gin tensed, clearly waiting to be attacked and saw a sudden movement behind a bush; he fired but it turned out to be a rabbit.

In the same moment, when he had his back turned, Shiho heard something from her behind her. She tilted her head and her face couldn't show more surprise.

Hovering in air, was non other but Shinichi Kudo.

He aimed his gun straight in front of him and fired, hitting Gin's arm; the hypodermic substance had

immediate effect and the man crumpled to the ground. He then landed on the ground.

"Are you all right?" he asked, turning to her, "He didn't hurt you or anything, did he?"

"How did you do _that_?" she asked, recovering from the shock of seeing Gin neutralised so easily and from being saved from death.

"Do what?"

"You were floating in air. _Flying_."

"Sorry, milady, but that's a secret that belongs to Kaitou Kid's vast arsenal of tricks and surprises." he remarked with a smirk; then, noticing the look on her face, "But since I'm not Kid.." He turned and she noticed a metallic box on his back, attached to his belt with two small rockets sticking from the bottom. "Kid uses this when he can't use his hang-glider. You know, in small spaces."

"Where is he?"

"Down to the mansion. Ryu and Rei are there."

"Ryu? He's in the house? But the explosions?"

"They'll make it. And if they need help, there's Kid and the others."

They looked at each other. Shiho felt a wave of emotion wash through her.

"You really came." she whispered.

"I promised it, didn't I?"

As they talked, they didn't notice Gin moving. The man wasn't still knocked out: he was lots more tougher than he seems. He slowly loaded his gun and quickly turned around.

Shiho caught the sudden movement a second too late. Shinichi noticed it right after her.

Gin fired. Twice. And so did Shinichi. His shots hit the man on the other arm and his shoulder; this time, Gin was really knocked out cold.

Shiho realised that Gin's bullets were not heading to her.

The bullets were going towards _him_.

-

Before Shinichi even realised what was going on, a hand grabbed him, pushing him aside.

He turned and looked in utter shock as a bullet hit Shiho square in the chest and the other sliced through her arm.

"SHIHO!" he yelled. He barely noticed that the second bullet had hit his arm too.

He dashed forward and grabbed her before she fell to the ground.

Shiho was breathing heavily, gasps of pain escaped her lips. He didn't dare to move her: blood was soaking her white blouse and he saw the small black hole near her heart.

Shinichi felt.. desperate.

It was his fault: she was in this state because of him. Hadn't he said that he would have protected her? Why did she do such a thing?

"Shiho..." he breathed; he felt tears filling his eyes but angrily wiped them away. He had to do something. Anything.

"Sh..Shinichi."

The boy looked down and saw her gazing at him. He forced a smile.

"You.. you will be fine." he said, hoping that his voice wasn't trembling as he heard it. "I'll take you to the first hospital I'll find and then, you'll be fine. Fine."

Shiho gave him a faint smile.

"You are not good in lying, you know?" she whispered softly, "No wonder you became a detective: you only know how to say the truth."

"I'm not lying." he retorted, "You will be fine."

But as he bore into her light blue eyes, he realised that he didn't believe his words as much as he thought and she knew it.

Suddenly, Shiho gasped in pain; Shinichi held her closer to him, getting drenched with her blood.

"Don't give up." he whispered, "Don't, Shiho. Please, don't."

He kept calling her continuously, trying to keep her conscious. Shinichi didn't dare to leave her alone: what if she..?

He shook his head furiously. No he didn't, shouldn't think of that.

'She will be all right." he thought and kept repeating this to himself as though a mantra. 'Shiho will be all right.'

He realised that he needed help but how to get it? Maybe Kid would be back soon? But what if he didn't? What if he had problems down at the mansion?

'If only I had brought my earring phone..' he thought bitterly, 'I could call Matt or someone. But I don't have it!'

And then he remembered.

'Shiho has it!'

The girl was breathing heavily in his arms, sliding from consciousness to unconsciousness and back. Careful not to hurt her, Shinichi slid his hand in her jacket pocket and retrieved the small phone; he was startled to find it and his fingers sticky with blood.

He put it on his ear and dialed a number, hoping, praying that he would answer and send someone to help him.

"You will be fine, Shiho.." he whispered, holding her with a hand and dialling the number with the other one. "You will."  
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Ryu felt the blood freeze in his veins when he heard Chris' words.

"What?" he breathed, "No.. no.."

He crawled to Rei, not bothering anymore to his injuries, ignoring the stabs of pain that he felt. His thoughts were all concentrated on her.

"Rei.." he whispered when he got to her. She was pale, extremely pale under the sweat and dust.

"Ryu, the pulse's weak and her heart is still beating but she's not breathing." Chris explained, "I think she has inhaled a large quantity of smoke and this has compromised her respiratory system."

"So she needs oxygen." Matt said, getting up. "Where the hell can we find oxygen?"

Ryu didn't reply; he merely sat up straighter, took a deep breath and bent down, holding Rei's nose, closing her mouth with his and blowing all his air in her. He did the operation another few times.

As he did this, Chris kept on checking Rei's pulse while Matt wandered to the cars, opening every trunk to see if any had a well-equipped first aid kit with, maybe, an oxygen supply.

After five blows of air, Rei didn't stir and Ryu felt a dreading feeling in him. He coughed suddenly and felt his throat dry.

"Don't you dare, Rei..." he whispered to her as he blew another mouthful of air in her, coughing again, "Don't you dare leave me." He took another deep breath despite the urge of coughing and bent down again. "Not like my mother, my father and Françoise. I wouldn't bear to loose you." He got a coughing fit, tears of desperation streamed from his eyes.

"Ryu, stop it." Chris said, not understanding a word of what he was saying, though she had a vague idea, "You have breathed smoke too, didn't you? If you go on like this, _you'll_ go in lack of oxygen."

The boy didn't even listen. He managed to take another deep breath and blew air in Rei's mouth another time.

"Rei, I love you." he whispered on her lips, "Don't give up. Stay with me.. Don't leave me."

He blew another mouthful of air inside her, his tears dripping on her face and began to cough hard. Chris looked at Heiji, Ran, Kazuha and Kaito with concern; the FBI agents and Detectives Satou and Takagi were busy closing the captured Organisation members in the cars and vans while Matt was still savagely looking for a oxygen bottle.

"Nothing!" he yelled angrily, rummaging madly through the contents of a first aid kit he had found in a van and slamming the trunk close. His hand phone began to ring but he didn't bother to answer as he dashed to check another car.

Ryu struggled to fight a cough back down. He took a deep breath and bent down to Rei again, ignoring Chris' worried protests; as he was blowing his air in her, he was caught in another coughing fit; tears blinded his eyes as he felt his throat and lungs on fire but he managed blow all the air he could into Rei's mouth. As he pulled away, coughing like mad, he heard another person cough too and his heart skipped a few beats.

Rei rolled on a side and began to cough hard; she opened her eyes slightly, breathing harshly and Chris sighed in relief: her pulse was still very weak but at least, she was conscious. Ryu crawled close to her and took her hand: he couldn't talk through the coughs and this was the only way he knew to show how glad he was to hear her.

Matt showed up with a defeated look on his face: he hadn't found what he was looking for. As he caught sight of Rei coughing, his eyes widened and he hurried to them.

"How is she?" he asked Chris.

"She's conscious but we have to take to a hospital. She needs treatment and so does Ryu." she said and glanced at the other boy who was coughing harshly. "Didn't Detective Fabian send for an ambulance and a helicopter? They should be here by now."

"Yes, they should and so should the firemen." Matt remarked, "Even though the gas' turned off, there's still another bomb ready to explode. I suppose I'll have to make everyone get away from here or we'll be involved."

"N..no." Matt turned and looked at Ryu who was leaning on Fabian's wrecked car's door, trying to suppress another coughing fit. "I... disabled the.. bomb... before."

Saying that the young lawyer was impressed was an understatement.

"You are great!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, "Now we have a problem less."

"Matt, the ambulance. The helicopter." Chris remarked again.

"Oh, yeah." the boy hurried to Fabian who was standing by the vans, supervising the operation of locking as many captives in a vehicle along with a few agents as guard.

"Uncle James, when will the ambulance and the helicopter be here?" he asked as he got closer. As an answer, Fabian put his hand in his pocket and tossed him his hand phone.

"They said they'll call when they are close." he said shortly and went on with his work. Nodding, Matt returned back to his friends. He hardly had the time to tell them what he knew that James' hand phone began to ring. He quickly answered it.

"Hello? You're from the helicopter? Great.. where are you? All right.. Yeah, the fire's right next to us... Oh.. Of course.. but, wait a second.." Matt pulled a map from his trouser's pocket and opened it. "Er.. there's an open space nearby.. I think you should be able to land there." He paused, hearing the pilot's reply. "So, all right? You'll be here in a few min... Hey, what...? Hello? _Hello?"_ Chris, Ryu, Heiji, Kaito, Kazuha and Ran looked at him. "_Hello_? Oh, there you are! What..?" Matt paused again and his eyes widened. "WHAT? Who are they? Yes, I know _you_ can't know them but... I meant.." He rolled his eyes. "Who sent us this idiot?" he muttered and then resumed to talk on the phone. "All right describe them."

He stayed silent for a few moments and his eyes widened more. At the same time, his hand phone rang for the fourth or fifth time; muttering at the pilot to wait on line, Matt cursed under his breath and took his hand phone with badly suppressed annoyance and answered.

"Who the _hell_ is it?" he bellowed, "I'm busy and I can'.. _Shinichi_?" The others looked up. "What? Yes, I know.. I'm sorry but I had my own trouble here... I didn't think it could be _you_ calling me! Well, later about that, there's an helicopter there.. You saw it? Good. Listen, I'll tell the pilot to get you two and then he'll come here... Shinichi, I understand! But the ambulance hasn't still come here and Rei and Ryu have to go there as well. All right? See you in minute or so."

He hastily put his phone away and went back talking to the helicopter's pilot.

"Hello? Listen, you have to pick up that two.. yes, pick them up. Then come here because you have take another two people and then get to the closest hospital. Did you understand? Ok."

He closed James' phone. One look at his face and the others knew that something had happened.

"What's wrong?" Heiji asked.

"What happened to Shinichi?" Ran asked fearfully.

"Matt." Ryu managed to say clearly, "What's.. going on?"

"The pilot spotted three figures by a cliff." he said.

"Kudo, Miyano and Gin" Kid remarked.

"Yeah, he described them and well, Gin seems to be knocked out cold. As for Shinichi and Shiho.." Matt was very concerned, "It seems that they're both injured; Shinichi said that Shiho's particularly serious: she got hit by a bullet on her chest." A few gasps were heard. "The helicopter will take them and then come here to pick up Rei and Ryu. It'll be here soon."

The other teens nodded numbly.

-

Five minutes later, an helicopter landed in an open space next to the mansion; inside besides the pilot was a paramedic and Shinichi and Shiho. Only Matt, Ryu and Rei who was being carried by the blond got closer to the vehicle. They caught sight of Shinichi and saw that he looked devastated. They turned there gaze to Shiho and failed to suppress a gasp of shock. She was soaked with blood, extremely pale and looked to be in pain. The paramedic had done his best to stabilize her conditions, applying her an I.V tube but he knew that she urgently needed treatment. When he caught sight of Rei's unconscious figure, he practically dived to the door, helping Ryu put her in and, after knowing what had happened he put an oxygen mask on her. Ryu sat next to the pilot and the paramedic passed him an oxygen supply, noticing his harsh cough.

The pilot talked with Matt, saying that he was heading to Tokyo General Hospital.

"Be fast." Matt said to him as the helicopter was about to leave.

The pilot nodded and so did Ryu who was slowly breathing through the oxygen supply: he felt as though his lungs were turning back to normal again. Shinichi was too busy worrying about Shiho and also Rei's conditions.

The helicopter took off and Matt stood there till it wasn't but a black point in the dusking sky. It had been a long day but he still couldn't see it's ending.

As he was walking back to join the Chris and the others, his hand phone rang again. He answered immediately and was relieved to hear his father.

"Dad. Yeah, we've almost done here.. oh, good, you're sending more men? Yes, we didn't know where to put all of them. Ah, you heard... Uncle James told you, didn't he? Yes, the helicopter has just gone away; as soon as I'm done, I'll go down to the hospital to see them. You're going there? Oh, we'll meet there, then. What?"

Matt's eyes widened as he heard his father's words.

"That...that's great, Dad. Really. Ok, see you later."

He put his phone away and looked at the burning mansion.

Right in front of his eyes, the roof caved in, collapsing inside on the floors. The firemen had come a few minutes ago and had set to work immediately helped by a few agents.

The ambulance was going to be there any minute.

As he looked at the flames and smoke rising from the building, Matt recalled his father's last sentence on the phone.

_"We have caught him, Matt. The Boss is in our hands."_

He should feel glad of his capture.

He should feel exhilarated of having contributed to bring down the Organisation.

He should be happy that it no longer existed.

But he wasn't.

He only felt dread and a great sense of let-down.

More than a year's work had finally given it's results. The Organisation had been destroyed but at what cost? Matt had heard from Fabian about the men that had lost their lives at the Bay: they were heroes now but how could that soot their families' pain? But what concerned Matt most were his four friends on the helicopter.

'I hope that they will all be fine..' he thought.

It just wasn't fair.

They were the ones that had worked most to bring the Organisation down, they were the ones that put most efforts in the plan. They were the ones that risked most, exposing themselves, risking to be recognised or worse caught.

And now that it was all over, they were the ones that were risking their lives.

It just wasn't fair.

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Well, another chapter is done.

I've been quite quick, haven't I? I took advantage of a few mornings and afternoons that I spent on my own without anyone around: I sat in front of my laptop and just let the story come to life. I do hope that you'll like it because there are a lot of little things that I said here that will be important in the coming chapters and in the second part of my story.

Oh, by the way, just three chapters left to the ending of Part 1!

Anyway, I'm quite satisfied with this chapter; maybe I could say something about Shinichi's arrival to save Shiho and how I kind of finished Gin so easily.. I swear I didn't know how to put that bit and I think I hurried up. I hope you'll like it.

The next chapter will come, I hope, soon. I'll try to settle down and write as mush as I can.

REVIEW!

Bye!

A.N: Corrections made


	30. Trust and Hope A

Four points of the same star.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Detective Conan.

-...- transceiver talk

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR Chapter 27: Trust and Hope (A)

_**Trust**: To rely on, to confide, or repose faith.  
_

_**Hope**: To trust with confident expectation of good.._

-

It was nearly half past six when Matt, Kaito and Chris walked through the glass doors of Tokyo General Hospital, drawing the stares of the people standing by the lobby. It was quite natural since they were covered in dust, dirt, soot and blood in the boys' case.

Matt walked to the information table, showed his FBI badge to the nurse standing there and asked where the injured agents were.

"Fifth floor." the woman replied. Matt nodded and headed to the elevators followed by the others.

"They're looking at us as though we had sprouted another head." Chris muttered as they got inside the elevator with another couple of people. Kaito smirked.

"They would have stared at us even more if I had come without changing." he remarked silently. Matt and Chris shot him an amused look in reply.

They had come to the hospital after taking another agent's car since the one Matt had driven was damaged beyond repair. As they were heading to the hospital, Kid decided to change in a more un-formal attire: he realised that if he got into the hospital as Kaitou Kid, he would have been recognised by the crowd and would be surrounded by policemen before he had time to blink. So he removed his cloak, his top hat, his suit's jacket and his tie. He pulled his shirt over his white pants, put his monocle on his eye and put on the baseball cap Matt had found hidden somewhere in the car; at least, dressed like this, he didn't draw _too_ much attention. But I suppose that being covered in dirt and ash and wearing a blood stained shirt, _does_ attract attention nevertheless. A few people entered the elevator while another couple left: everyone looked at the three teens as though they were Martians. When they reached the fifth floor, the three nearly sighed in relief as they stepped out.

The fifth floor was _chaotic_.

Doctors with stethoscopes and carrying clipboards and nurses with armfuls of bandages bustled in and out of the many rooms of the floor. The waiting room was packed with men, mainly injured FBI agents and policemen who were waiting to be treated.

The three teens hardly had time to step closer to the waiting room that a few policemen blocked them; they probably thought that they were in the wrong place. Fortunately, Inspector Scott Knight was nearby and quickly came to retrieve them.

"Xanders, Evans." he said, approaching them.

"Sir." Matt and Chris greeted.

"I was wondering when you would show up, Matt." Knight stated, leading them towards the staircase where no one would have bothered them and where they wouldn't have bothered anyone. "I heard that you had to face a few problems down at the valley. Mind you, a fire, bombs and whatsoever."

"Well, yes but we've got through all of that all in one piece." Matt remarked, "Er.. nearly." He hastily added as Knight eyed his blood soaked trousers and Kaito's bloody arm. "There have been more problems at the Bay. Casualties, I've heard."

"Yes, unfortunately." Scott said with a sigh, "We used bullets with that hypodermic substance that your brother suggested but they, obviously, didn't do the same. It has been quite a fight and we have lost nearly sixty men." Chris gasped while Matt and Kaito's face showed shock. "And our Japanese colleagues' have lost just as many men. But if there's a bright side in all of this, we can say that there aren't any black operatives left: we've caught all of them. Many are going straight to jail where their injuries and wounds will be treated and where they'll wait till their trials. The most seriously wounded will be cured here." He pointed to a lone room at the very end of the left corridor with three FBI men standing in front of it's door.

"Sir, have you seen Ryu?" Matt asked, remembering the main reason he had hurried to the hospital.

"Yes, I think I caught a glimpse of him before. He hurried down that corridor." Scott pointed to his right. "Along with another boy. They were behind a couple of doctors and nurses who were pushing two beds. I don't know who were the ones lying on them but, by the way the doctors were behaving, they must be seriously wounded."

His words didn't lift the teens' spirits at all. They nodded and hurried down the corridor, avoiding to bump into other people. They got at the end of the corridor and found themselves in another waiting room but this one was empty. At the right, there was another door with glass panels.

"Intensive care." Matt muttered, "Damn it.."

He opened it and went in while Chris and Kaito waited outside. This section of the hospital was extremely quiet: the only sound that could be heard was the faint noise of the medical machineries and the low whispering of doctors and nurses. An elderly nurse shot him a rather nasty glare noticing the state of his clothes but before she could stop him, Matt had spotted Ryu and Shinichi and hurried to them.

"Ryu! Shinichi!" he said approaching them. The two boys were leaning against the wall in front of a closed room and looked up as they heard their names. The blonde stood straight as the other got closer to him.

"Matt." he said wearily, "You came."

"Yeah, sorry we're late but we had to sort a few things out at the valley." the dark haired boy replied, noticing that the other looked exhausted. Probably the adrenaline due to the events had made him completely numb to how tired he was before but now it was all coming back. "So, what's going on? How are Rei and Shiho?"

"Rei's in that room." Ryu said, pointing to a room on his left in the far corner, "I didn't get to hear much but I think she was close to die for intoxication; the doctors have taken her there to treat her. While Shiho.." Ryu glanced at Shinichi who hadn't moved to greet the other boy but was leaning on the wall, gazing at the closed doors in front of him with an empty, absent stare. The engineer sighed and turned back to Matt. "Shiho's serious. She's been bleeding the whole way to the hospital even with that paramedic trying to do his best to stop it; they've taken her to the operation theatre an hour ago but.. it's going to be a long operation. The bullet has hit her on the chest: I don't know what damage it may have caused. And no one's giving us any information at all!"

"You don't know what's going on out there, do you?" Matt asked. Ryu looked at him, puzzled, and shook his head. "I talked with Dad while I was getting here: he contacted the hospital as soon as he heard that you guys were heading here in helicopter; he told them that you're involved in a top-secret FBI operation and that they shouldn't ask any questions or inform any authority or whatsoever. Anyway, all the men that have been injured have been brought here." He paused. "Including the Organisation's operatives from the valley."

"The operatives are here?" Ryu asked in disbelief, "Why? I mean, they should be sent straight to jail: they would be treated there!"

"I know but they are too many." Matt replied, "And the most seriously wounded have been sent here: the jail's medical section isn't qualified to treat those types of injuries."

Ryu stared at him but didn't answer and turned away; Shinichi hadn't moved a muscle. Matt didn't bother them further, understanding that they were deeply concerned. And the thought that the men that were involved in their lovers' injury were in the same place where they were wasn't good news. Not at all.

_"Excuse me?"_

Matt and Ryu turned around.

A doctor and the elderly nurse the lawyer had seen as he entered Intensive Care were standing in front of them.

"Yes?" Ryu asked, hoping that they would give them some news. Shinichi snapped out of his trance and turned to them, too.

The man eyed the three boys in front of him carefully: they were all wounded and were bleeding; they were covered with dirt, dust and also soot. The blond boy also had a few burns.

"What are you three doing here?" he asked.

"We are here for the two girls in these rooms." Ryu replied, slightly disappointed that no news were given, "They are.. with us."

The doctor turned to the nurse who handed him a clipboard: he quickly flipped through the pages and read the reports regarding Rei and Shiho.

"I see... but their treating will take time." the man remarked, looking at them, "I must ask you to leave from here."

The boys couldn't believe their ears.

_"What?"_

Matt faced the man.

"Excuse me, doctor..." he read the name on his coat. Shimada. "Dr. Shimada, we're from FBI and the two girls in question are our colleagues." he explained, "We're concerned for their state."

"I know which is the situation." the man replied, "I was treating your others colleagues before but that's not the point. I'm sorry but you can't stay here."

"Why not?" Shinichi spoke out at last and his tone was sharp as a blade.

"Did you look at yourselves?" the nurse burst out, clearly annoyed by the boy's tone.

Dr. Shimada turned to the woman.

"Mrs. Inaho, you can go." he said, "I can take care of the situation myself."

The nurse looked at him with a disbelieved look but nevertheless, she walked away, entering in one of the rooms. As soon as she was gone, the doctor turned to the boys with a more sympathetic look.

"I apologize for her." he said, "She's the one in charge here and her duty is to look after the patients and be sure that nothing will harm them." He looked at them. "I can understand that you are concerned for your colleagues' health but we have to worry of our patients and your.. state is not suitable for this place. This is the section of Intensive Care: there are all a series of strict rules to follow for the patients treated here are very serious. I don't know if you have noticed by you are all injured, bleeding and covered with dirt. I'm asking you to leave because it's not hygienic for our patients if you stay here. I hope you understand."

Matt, Ryu and Shinichi looked at each with embarrassment and shame.

"Sorry.." they muttered at unison but the man shook his head.

"I understand." he remarked and as walked them to the door, "If there are news about the two girls' conditions, I'll come or send someone to inform you. Please, stay in the waiting room." He opened the sliding door and turned to them. "By the way, you three need to be treated."

Ryu and Shinichi shook their heads.

"We're not going anywhere till we're sure that Rei and Shiho are fine." Ryu said firmly and Shinichi nodded. "We don't want to take any of the doctors away from them just to treat us."

Dr. Shimada looked slightly taken aback.

'It seemed that the two girls weren't just colleagues, after all...' he thought.

"What about you?" he asked Matt.

"Ehm.. I'm not the only one injured." he said, "There's also another boy outside with a wounded arm. We'll wait till it's necessary: we're not serious. I know you're all busy at the moment."

The doctor nodded.

"I'll treat you in a few minutes. I'm free at the moment." he remarked and walked back to the principal waiting of the fifth floor.

Matt, Ryu and Shinichi turned and saw a group of people in the small waiting room: Kaito, Detective Fabian, Inspectors Knight and Xanders and Agase. The old scientist approached Ryu and Shinichi with badly hidden anxiety.

"Shinichi-kun! Ryu-kun!" he exclaimed, getting close to them, eyes widening as he took in their injuries, "What happened? You didn't tell me anything on the phone! Where's Ai.. Shiho-kun? And Rei-kun?"

Ryu and Shinichi had immediately called Agase once they got inside the hospital and the girls were taken inside Intensive Care. They told him to come the hospital with a change of clothes for each of them and nothing else. Explaining everything was still too hard for them..

The two boys looked at each other.

"I'll explain, Professor." Shinichi said slowly, "Come."

The boy and the man walked towards the staircases. The young detective knew how much the old man cared for Shiho and he wanted to be the one to tell him everything about her conditions. Ryu watched them leave and then turned around to see Matt talking with his father. A few moments later, Dr. Shimada appeared and Matt and Kaito followed him to another room.

Mark Xanders turned to the blond boy; without saying a word but with oddly bright eyes, he hugged him in a fatherly embrace.

"Ryu, my boy." he said, "You don't know how good it is to see you."

"Uncle Mark.." Ryu whispered, biting back a gasp for all the stabs of pain the physical contact caused him, "It's good to see you, too."

The man broke the embrace and held the boy gently by his shoulders and took a good look of him.

"They've really battered you up.." he said, eyes clouding as he took in his injuries, "How is Reila?"

"I don't know. She's been inside a room since we came here and no one came out to tell me anything." Ryu glanced at the man: he seemed slightly battle weary but otherwise he seemed fine. The boy thanked God that his adoptive father had not been harmed or hurt. He looked up, wanting to to talk to him again and ask about the raid but he felt slightly dizzy. Shaking away the feeling, he began to talk with Inspector Xanders, asking him what had happened at the Bay and what would have happened now.

Less than twenty minutes later, Matt and Kaito showed up again. The lawyer was walking on crutches while the magician had his arm on a sling: they both had bandages and band-aids on their face due to the burns and scratches but, on the whole, they looked fine. Mark walked towards Dr. Shimada who was behind the two boys and left Ryu on his own, by the window. He glanced outside and saw a few ambulances coming towards the building: it seemed that there were still many people that had to be treated.

'Rei..' he couldn't help but think of her. He had felt as though his heart had stopped beating when Chris had said that she wasn't breathing: it had been one of the worst moments of his life.

During the trip to the hospital, she was in sort of slumber and hadn't said a word or moved: the paramedic had put an oxygen mask on her to ease her breathing and had given another one to him. Since their arrival, Rei was closed in that room in Intensive Care and no one gave him news of her state. It was unnerving. He looked up and saw Matt talking with his father, Detective Fabian and Inspector Knight; Kaito was sitting on a chair, looking exhausted. The blonde was going to approach him when he felt dizzy again. But the feeling was stronger this time.

Ryu stepped back as the world began to slowly spin in front of him.

He felt tired and all of a sudden he felt his bruises, burns and wounds throbbing painfully. He had reached the wall and felt the cold surface on his blood stained shirt. Cold sweat moistened his face and his body became heavy, as though made of iron.

Without any warning, Ryu crumpled to the ground.

_"Ryu!"_

Shortly after, another shout was heard.

-

Hiroshi Agase was...

There wasn't a word to explain how he was feeling.

The girl that he cared for as much as a daughter was in critical conditions, fighting between life and death in an operation theatre. He couldn't believe that hardly two days ago, he had seen her safe and sound as she came back from school. He had been happy because she was finally... living.

Living the life she deserved: a happy, carefree life like any other teenager. Although he knew that being a student was only a cover he knew that Ai-kun (he still called her Ai for he was fond of the name that _he_ had chosen for her) was taking in every single bit of this new life, enjoying it till it was possible. She had friends, true friends that she could trust and that trusted her in return. And she had also found more. Love.

Agase looked at Shinichi who didn't dare to meet his gaze. The man eyed his injuries: there was a deep cut on the side of his head and blood was seeping continuously from it going down his neck; his right sleeve was torn and blood was coming out from the gash on his arm; his clothes were tattered and dirty and showed that he had bruises all over his body. But he didn't seem to bother to them at all.

Agase knew Shinichi since he was a child. He still remembered with amusement when the hardly five year old boy appeared in his garden, after having escaped from his garden and nearly giving his mother a heart attack. He was looking for a soccer ball that he had kicked and that had bounced over the wall that divided their houses. The then forty year old man had smiled at the genuine curiosity that the child had shown when he saw the table full of wires and other mechanical accessories. From that day on, with his mother's permission, Shinichi had regularly visited Agase and the man had slowly become accustomed of his presence. He had seen him grow up. He was there when he turned from a sharp, brilliant child to a sharp, outstandingly brilliant detective. He was there to help when he needed aid, giving him his newest devices or just a word of advice if he wanted. Shinichi was like a grandson for Agase but in the past year, he had become like a son. And all because of Ai.

He loved Shiho and she loved him.

The old scientist had seen their relationship blossom under his eyes from cool acquaintances to sarcastic friends, from close work partners to lovers. He had known that it would have happened: he had seen the changes in their attitudes. Their initial mistrust had slowly turned into a mutual feeling of assurance, the witty remarks they often exchanged between themselves hid more than could meet the eye: respect, trust and.. friendship. But as the months went on, their relationship changed: the adventures they went through fortified and tested their unsaid friendship causing fights, tension but nevertheless, Ai and Shinichi remained close. With Rei and Ryu's arrival, they had opened out to them as well, knitting the special bond that characterised the four teens.

But it was afterwards that their relationship really deepened. When they took the antidote and finally returned themselves, Shinichi and A.. Shiho got over their doubts and declared their mutual feelings to each other. Agase had been so happy of that: the two persons he cared for most had found happiness in one another.

And now the boy.. the young man he considered part of his family wouldn't meet his gaze because too guilt-ridden. Shinichi thought it was his fault if Shiho was in this state.

"Shinichi-kun.." the scientist said softly, "Why don't you go and get treated? You are bleeding heavily and your wounds could infect."

The boy shook his head without meeting the man's stare.

"No." he said, "I told the doctors that I won't go anywhere till I'm sure that Shiho is safe... till she's out of danger."

The man couldn't help but feel moved by the boy's sincere concern: he truly loved the girl. But, nevertheless, he had to be treated. If he didn't do something to his injuries, he would take a bed in Intensive Care too. Agase approached Shinichi.

"Shinichi-kun." he said, "I am sure that when she will wake up, Ai-kun will want to see you well and not in this state. Get yourself treated: do it for her."

Shinichi turned to Agase and the man was startled to see the amount of pain and grief in his usually calm eyes. The boy was going to reply when a shout startled both of them.

"What was that?" Agase exclaimed and headed to the source of the shout. Shinichi was going to follow him when something happened, forcing him to grab the banisters of the nearby staircase.

He felt dizzy. His hand rose to his head, clutching it as a wave of pain coursed through his body. Shinichi felt as though his body was in fire: all his wounds and bruises were burning as though someone was pricking them repeatedly with a red-hot poker. He swayed as he felt his legs turn to jelly, too weak to sustain his heavy, lead-like body: he fell on his knees and a gasp of pain escaped his lips.

'No..' he thought desperately, 'No, I can't.. Shiho.. I have to be sure that she's..'

He couldn't finish.

As another wave of pain went through his body followed by a sharp stab at his head, Shinichi collapsed to the floor, face down, his body exhausted by the physical and emotional strain.

Agase turned around only when he heard a girl shout.

"SHINICHI!"

He whipped around and saw the boy on the ground. A girl, Ran, was by his side and he noticed Heiji running down the corridor followed by Kazuha. Without thinking anymore, Agase rushed to Shinichi's side, trying to make him wake up.

Less than five minutes later, a small group of doctors and nurses were rushing down a corridor, pushing two beds in front of them. Ryu and Shinichi were being taken to another ward because there wasn't space in the previous one and they both needed special treatments.

Agase waited near Intensive Care while Matt went to the boys' ward: they agreed to inform each other in case there was any news about the four's conditions.

They only had to wait and see what would happen.

And hope for the best.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ran was sitting on a wall bench in the main waiting room of the hospital with Kazuha, Heiji and Detectives Satou and Takagi. Kid was standing at the very corner of the room by the window.

It was nearly midnight but no one in the room seemed to realise it: they were all in silence, waiting. They had been sent there because there was no place in the room near Intensive Care: Agase, Detective Fabian and Inspectors Xanders and Knight were there.

The girl was sitting with her hands on her laps, completely lost in her thoughts and without bothering to the continuous stream of people that entered and exited the rooms nearby.

She was thinking of Shinichi.

She had reached the hospital hours after he had: she had been brought there by Detective Satou along with Takagi and the Osaka teens. She had hastily asked where he was and had rushed to see him but when she got to the fifth floor, she hardly had time to call him that he collapsed on the floor. She just rushed to his side, followed by Agase, and tried to reanimate him and they did wake him at a certain point but..

Ran tightened her fists.

'Even in that state..' she thought, 'Even then, while I was there, he.. he only thought of _her_..'

FLASHBACK

Ran was running beside Shinichi's bed as he was transported to another ward. She kept calling him continuously, trying to make him come back to senses.

"Shinichi. Shinichi wake up." she said, fear in her tone, "Don't leave... Wake up."

As she was saying this, the boy groaned slightly and feebly opened his eyes. Ran couldn't help but cry in delight but her smile vanished as she heard him mutter softly.

"Don't.. give up." Shinichi whispered, tears slowly leaking from his eyes, "Shiho.. don't.. Don't leave me. Please, don't leave me..."

She stopped, rooted on the spot and watched him being taken away.

END FLASHBACK

Ran was truly heartbroken. She had decided to follow Sonoko's advice and try to be friendly with Shinichi, try to get back their former relationship of childhood friends as though nothing had happened; in the meantime, she would have waited for the right time to come, hoping that Shinichi's interest for Miyano was just a infatuation or a small crush. She hoped that, at the end, he would come back to her. But now, she realised that it wasn't possible.  
Shinichi truly loved Miyano: she had seen it during this incredible day she had lived. She saw his open concern for her when she accepted to meet the Organisation's member alone, how he dashed to save her from being killed. And how, unconsciously he cried for her. Shinichi never cried: she had never seen him cry. And now, instead..  
'I still love him.' she thought, 'I'll keep loving him... But Shinichi loves her.'  
And the only thought, shattered her heart once again.

"Ran-san?"

The girl looked up and saw Heiji standing in front of her.

"Yes?"

"The car is waiting for us."

More than an hour ago, a policeman had arrived asking for Kogoroh Mouri's daughter. As soon as Ran had stood up, he told her that her father was at the main police station with Inspectors Megure and Hattori and the other American Inspectors: he had asked him to tell her to go home and take Heiji and Kazuha with her. Inspector Hattori had told his son to do as he was told.

They all realised that arguing was useless. The Inspectors were all busy with the captives and the teens couldn't bother them. Ran got up and nodded at Heiji; Kazuha was next to them. The three walked down the corridor after having bid goodbye to Detectives Satou and Takagi. Kazuha glanced at Ran and saw her gloomy expression.

"We can come back in the morning." she said in an attempt to console her, "Kudo-san and the others should be fine by then."

Ran looked up at her.

"Yes." she said with a small smile.

Heiji who was walking in front of them and had heard their dialogue, lowered the cap on his eyes as a small frown creased his features.

He hoped they would be fine.  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
_The sun was shining and it was very warm. Lunch break had started from a bit._

_He was sitting on the ground, leaning with his back on the trunk of a large tree. It was his favorite spot at the campus: silent and completely hidden from view. He had just had lunch and had come there to relax before attending his next class. He reached for his backpack and drew out his Mp3 reader and turned it on, selecting a random song. _

_He was tired. He had spent half of his sleeping hours to study and now he felt his eyes closing on their own will. He really wished to go home and sleep but the class was important and he didn't know anyone that could lend him the notes. He smirked mirthlessly and closed his eyes._

_'That's the inconvenient of being the youngest..' he thought, 'Many people look at you as though you were an alien while others treat you as a child.'_

_The only people he had befriended were Christine and Lucas, two of Matt's friends. Nobody else. And many months had passed since he was at university. Maybe he had to get used of it._

_Feeling drowsy every passing second, he yanked the earphones out of his ears and stuffed the Mp3 reader back in his backpack; with his eyes still closed, he got up, thinking of the water fountain that was nearby. Maybe washing his face with cold water would help..._

_He yawned picking up his backpack and stepped out of his 'hiding' and turned to his left. The next thing he knew was that someone collided into him. A gasp was heard and a few books and a note book fell on the ground. _

_Ryu stepped back in an attempt to keep his balance; the person he crashed into did the same._

_"Gomen.." he said automatically and stiffened slightly realising that he had inadvertently spoken in his home language. "I mean.."_

_"Gomenasai."_

_His eyes widened slightly as he heard the other mutter an apology in Japanese as well. He looked up and saw that 'the other' was a girl. _

_"Sorry, I mean." she said apologetically, "I didn't see you."_

_"N.. no, don't worry." he stammered, "It's my fault. I... I just popped out of.. nowhere."_

_He always felt slightly uncomfortable when girls were around but with this girl, he felt extremely embarrassed. He had just realised that she was probably his age and was also particularly pretty. Very pretty._ _Realising that he had been staring her for a longer time than just a look, he shifted his gaze elsewhere and seeing her books on the ground, he bent down to pick them up followed suite by her._ _The__re was a notebook and a textbook on computer science but also a novel._

_"Thank you." she replied with a small smile as he handed her the books. She looked at him with a slightly puzzled expression, "Excuse me, but are you Japanese?"_

_He nodded._

_"Yes." he said, "Well, half- Japanese. And you're Japanese too, right?"_

_"Yes, I moved here a few months ago from Tokyo."_

_He noticed that something flickered through her eyes, some emotion, but it disappeared so quickly that he wondered if it was just a trick of light._

_"What are you studying?" she asked after a while._

_"Engineering. Mechanical and Electronic Engineering." he replied, "What about you?"_

_"Computer Science." she said and a smile grazed her lips again, "I think we're attending a few classes together. I probably saw you during Computer Basis."_

_He thought of it for a few seconds and nodded in agreement._

_"Yes, I remember too." he remarked and absently passed his hand through his hair. All his sleepiness had definitely fled away. "Are you also taking Physics?"_

_"Yes, it's compulsory for my courses."_

_"Well, I'm attending it too." He gestured towards the building opposite them, "We can go together if you want: the class starts in another half an hour."_

_She nodded, shifting her books in her arms and walked by his side. After a few minutes of silence, she glanced at him._

_"Do you mind a question?" she asked._

_"No, not all." he said, "Go ahead."_

_"How old are you?"_

_"Fifteen."_

_"Really?"_

_"Yes." He slanted a glance at her. "You don't look much older than me."_

_"No indeed. I'm fifteen too. I'm just a bit surprised: I thought that I was the youngest here and it made me feel a bit.."_

_"Out of place." he finished. Noticing the look on her face, he smiled, "I feel like that too."_

_"It's good to know that I'm not alone then."_

_"Yes."_

_"Are you here in New York with your family or are you an exchange student?"_

_He stiffened for the smallest of seconds as she made the question._

_"No, I live here with my.. foster parents." he replied. It had to be a trick of his emotions, this sudden hesitation to refer to Matt's parents. He still felt a pang whenever he heard or said the word 'parents' or 'family'. The past was still to painful to recall and the wounds in his heart and soul were still too fresh._

_"Oh.." she said and then added after a few seconds of silence, "Well, I'm here with my guardian."_

_He stole a glance at her as she said this. Her face was straight, calm, showing no sign of emotion or weakness but her eyes betrayed her: he saw a glint of some kind of feeling flash in her blue orbs again. But he didn't budge her._

_Unlike other people, she didn't want to know more about this. Although he didn't know many people here at university and he didn't have many friends, he was well-known in the campus. Being one of the youngest students and, though he would never admit it, one of the most popular boys, many rumours about him circled around. The fact that he lived with Matt Xanders, another popular boy, and that both said to be brothers was common news. Matt and he were physically very different: one black haired with green eyes, the other blond with light blue eyes and their personalities were different too; so, many wondered why they said that they were brothers._ _The boys had always given vague answers on this subject but it seemed to satisfy the questioners. And this girl, unlike the others, had only accepted the news, stating indirectly that she was in similar situation._

_He felt as there was a sort of silent understanding between them._

_As they reached the front door of the main building, he pushed the door open, stepping aside to allow her to enter first. She flashed him an appreciative smile and stepped in. He found himself smiling like an idiot and mentally smacked himself._

_'What the heck is wrong with me?' he wondered, surprised that she hadn't noticed his foolish behaviour, 'It's not like me to be like this!'_

_He closed the door and hurried to catch up with her since she was waiting near the staircase for him. As they walked, he remembered the novel._

_"You like Sherlock Holmes." It was a statement more than a question._

_She looked up at him._

_"Yes. I see you noticed the book before." she replied and he nodded. "I've read the whole set of books about him but I like rereading them. I think that they are among the few novels that involves you the more you read them."_

_"Yes, you can always find a detail that you hadn't noticed before or see the story from another point of view."_

_She glanced at him with smile._

_"Oh, we have an expert here." she stated, a teasing tone in her voice._

_He blushed slightly and shrugged._

_They entered their classroom, finding it half empty: many students were studying there. They walked to the front and took seat. As they sat down, he realised that he hadn't still introduced himself._

_"Geez, my manners must have gone on a holiday.." he muttered under his breath and turned to his side, "Sorry, I forgot to do this before. I'm Ryu." He stretched out his hand, "Ryuji Xanders. Ryu for short. Pleased to meet you."_

_"I am Rei." she said shaking his hand with a smile, "Reila Ikeda. Rei for friends. Pleased to meet you, too."_

_He forcefully ignored the near-electric jolt that passed through his entire body as their hands made contact. This was strange. It wasn't like him to be like that. To feel like that._

_And yet there he was with something that turned inside his stomach, a new, unknown fluttering of emotions tugging his heart, causing a blush to darken his usually cool and composed face._

"_What… is going on with me?" he mused, sincerely confused._

_She looked up and shot him a small smile before turning back to the book she was reading and he felt all these feelings redouble inside him._

_He only knew one thing. She was special. There was something in her that changed him._

_Yes. Rei was special._

Blue eyes opened slowly.

That was their first meeting..

Ryu sat up with a start.

"Ow.."

He clutched his head and then his hand slowly slid to his shoulders and to his back. Every single muscle of his body was aching. Honestly speaking, he felt as though all his bones were aching too. He looked around and saw that he was in a hospital room. Alone and with a few machineries around his bed. Only then, he noticed that he had a oxygen mask on his mouth.

'I passed out.' he thought, removing the mask and remembering what had happened, 'I wonder how long I've been in here.'

He felt strangely relaxed: maybe, a bit of sleep must have calmed his tensed nerves. Without thinking, he got out of bed, wincing in pain. He wasn't wearing his clothes anymore but the hospital large shirts, the ones that reached your knees. With a smirk, Ryu realised that his clothes must have been thrown away in the best of cases; in this unnaturally clean and sterile building, his blood stained, soaked and dirty clothes were certainly out of place. He still remembered the face of the nurse down at Intensive Care.

He looked around the room and his eyes lit up when he saw the backpack placed on a chair.

"Agase.." he muttered and walked to get it. As he did so, he passed next to the window and through the shutters' holes, he saw that it was pitch black outside. Remembering that it getting dark last time he looked out, he realised that many hours had passed: it must be past one in the morning for sure. Ryu also caught a glimpse of his reflection on the window and arched an eyebrow in amusement.

"Well, I've been patched up quite a bit." he muttered and unzipped the backpack to retrieve some clothes. He put on a pair of blue jeans and a black shirt: they were both a bit large so it didn't hurt him when he slipped them on. He also found a pair of socks and trainers inside: it seemed that his other shoes had 'mysteriously' disappeared too.

As soon as he was dressed, Ryu glanced at the bedside table and saw a black mass of thread on it along with a silver chain. Automatically, bringing his hand to his neck, Ryu felt nothing but the bandages and realised that it was his own thread chain. He took the thread in his hand and saw that it was burnt and ripped: the silver star was still on it. There was also a thin, coloured chain of thread: it was the lucky charm that he, Rei and Matt had made more than a year ago.

Without hesitation, Ryu unhooked the star and rolled the two different thread chains together till they became one; then, he hooked the star back on it and tied it around his wrist. He couldn't get rid of them: they were both symbols of friendship. He took the silver chain and stuffed it in his jeans' pocket.

And now, he wanted to know how Rei was.

-

Matt was standing in the middle of a hallway, leaning on the wall with his crutches by his side. He had been in that position for four hours, waiting that someone would give him news about Ryu or Shinichi but after having taken them to different rooms and treated them, the doctors had said that they had to wait. Period.

And Matt was waiting.

He tilted his head as he heard approaching footsteps and saw Chris walking towards him.

"Hey." she said with a small smile, leaning on the wall next to him.

"Hey." he greeted.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. The wound's not serious: a couple of weeks and I'll be able to run New York's marathon if I wish."

Chris smiled, glad to see that he still had his sense of humor.

"What about Ryu and Kudo?"

"I have no idea. The doctors said that they're not in life danger and that we just have to wait till they wake up. I heard that they said something similar about the girls too, though I don't the details."

"I see."

After a momentary silence, Matt turned to Chris.

"Where have you been?" he asked, "I lost sight of you since I went inside Intensive Care."

"I went to see how the others were." she replied, "Our colleagues and everyone else. But I also looked around for Lucas when I heard that he had been shot."

_"What?_ When? How is he doing?"

"Well, during the raid but he's fine. Nothing serious: a stray bullet just went through his arm. I just went to check."

Matt nodded, ignoring the stab of annoyance he felt as he sensed Chris' attention towards Lucas. The two of them were very close: it had always been like since he met them more than four years ago.

"And then? You stayed there with him?" he asked absently.

"For a while." she replied, "Then I had to find a phone and call home to say I was safe and sound and then call my aunt to say that Lucas was fine too and.."

Matt who was listening carelessly to her, looked up as he registered something she had said.

"Your Aunt?" he interrupted.

"Yes, Lucas' mother."

"_His_ mother is _your_ aunt?"

"Well, I suppose so since we're cousins." she replied, looking slightly abashed by his reaction.

Matt looked at her in disbelief.

"You two are _cousins_?"

At this, Chris looked at him.

"Yes." she remarked in surprise, "Everyone knows that."

"I didn't."

"You can't be serious, Matt." But the look of disbelieved surprise on his face showed that he truly didn't know. "Oh, good Lord.. Didn't you ever wonder why we hang out together so often? Or why we know where the other lives and so on?"

"Well, yes but.." Matt was so surprised that he couldn't find the words, "But your surnames are different!"

Chris rolled her eyes, half-frustrated.

"Oh, come on, Matt!" she exclaimed, "You can't be so dense! Our mothers are sisters and that's why we have different surnames."

Matt felt as though he was the world's biggest idiot. Yet, a bubbling feeling rose inside his stomach.

Chris was still surprised.

"I can't believe it." she said, "I think everyone at FBI knows that we're related." Then after a moment of silence, she turned to him. "What did you think we were then?" she asked as an afterthought.

Matt didn't reply and turned to the other side: he was finding the wall quite interesting at the moment. Chris stared at him.

"Matt? Well?" she asked, "Come on, you surely couldn't be thinking that we were.. I don't know.. dating or something, did you?" He blushed slightly, scratching the side of his face in embarrassment and she finally realised what had gone through his mind, "No way.. You thought that Lucas and I were _dating_? As _a couple?_" She stared at him a moment and then broke down in silent laughter.

Matt frowned in annoyance.

"Well, I only made a mistake." he retorted, "What's so funny about that?"

Chris looked at him, still shaking with mirth.

"No.. it's just that.. I know Luc since I was in diapers. We have grown up together: he's like a brother for me more than a cousin. I can't even imagine him as a boy to... date. " Chris was trying hard not to laugh but the situation was just too absurd. "I can't wait to tell this to him: Luc will laugh his head off." Hilarity got over her again.

Matt watched her in amusement: it was rare to see her laugh like that.

"Finished over there?" he asked after a while, "Or are you going on for another round?"  
Chris shook her head, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes.  
This finally explained a few of Matt's strange behaviours: she had noticed that a inexplicable frown would appear, and then disappear from his face in a flash, whenever she talked with Lucas. Or he wouldn't meet her eyes if Lucas was around. She glanced at him: he had a few band aids on his face to cover the scratches due to the explosions; she had some too and also on her arms.  
"Why didn't you ask?" she asked after a bit, "It would have saved us this scene."  
Matt shrugged, still face turned.  
"It wasn't something about me." he replied, "It's not like your love life is my business.."  
Chris felt a hint in his tone that seemed to imply the opposite. Matt could be brilliant in many fields but honestly, girls weren't included in them. As for all boys: they were all particularly dense when it came to feelings. Realising that she had do the first move, Chris turned to him.  
"Matt."  
He turned around, his jet-black hair falling magnificently into his brilliant green eyes. The next thing he knew was Chris' lips brush against his in a light kiss. It happened so quickly that the boy only had time to detect a sweet scent before she stepped back, just a few centimeters between them.  
Chris smiled coyly at the flustered looking Matt.  
"You fool..." she whispered, "It _is_ your business."  
Finally, the boy put two and two together and a smile crept on his face.  
"It seems so." he replied softly.  
She stepped back, feeling his embarrassment and happiness.  
"I'll go and see the others." she said and turned to leave. However, Matt surprised her.  
"Chris."  
The girl hardly turned around that he had bent down, placing his lips on hers, his green eyes boring into her hazel ones. He reached for a cheek with his crutch-free hand, bringing her closer to him and deepening the kiss. Chris murmured softly against his lips as one thought went through her mind.  
'He isn't so dense after all.'  
When they parted, both flushed in face, they exchanged a smile.  
"See you later." she said and walked away, leaving him smiling and feeling elated. He snapped out of his trance when he heard an amused voice behind him.

_"About time, brother."_

Matt whipped around despite his bandaged leg and saw Ryu standing by his room's door. The boy's eyes widened.  
"Hey!" he exclaimed, walking towards him on his crutches, "When did you wake up?"  
"A while ago." he replied, "I spent a bit of time to get dressed: you know with all these bruises, bumps, burns and whatsoever I've got the mobility of statue."  
"Thank God that you _can_ still move." The young lawyer looked at the blond suspiciously. "How long have you been there?"  
Ryu smiled slyly.  
"You wouldn't like to know." he stated, making the other blush.  
"Whatever." Matt mumbled. Then, he looked up with a serious expression, "How are you feeling?"  
"Better. I'm still wincing whenever I move but that's not a problem."  
"I think we should call a doctor and have you checked."  
Ryu shook his head.  
"No, Matt." he said, "I know doctors: they'll say to stay in bed and rest but I'm not going to do it." Concern was reflected in his eyes. "How's Rei? And Shiho?"  
"You forgot Shinichi."  
"_What? _What happened to him?"  
"He fainted, just like you; probably for the blood loss due to his injuries or maybe because he was exhausted. Mentally and physically."  
"But he's fine, right?"  
"Yes, he only has to rest a bit, just like you."  
"And Rei and Shiho?"  
"I don't know much of them since I've been here all the time but from what I've heard Shiho's operation is over and the bullet has been extracted but she's still in Intensive Care. As for Rei, they've moved her to another ward: she's out of danger." Matt smiled at the look of relief on Ryu's face. "They're waiting for both of them to wake up to be sure of their conditions."  
"Where did they take her, Matt?" the blond asked, "I'm going there."  
Knowing that stopping him would have been vain, Matt nodded.  
"Room 203." he said.  
Ryu smiled and walked past him. As he was going away, Matt remembered that he had something for him and put his hand in his trousers' pocket.  
"Hey, Ryu!" he called out and the boy turned around. "Catch!"  
The blond saw him throw something and caught the golden glimmer in midair; his eyes widened when he saw what it was and he looked at Matt questioningly.  
"_How _did you get it?" he asked.  
Matt smirked.  
"I have my ways." he replied, "Come on, go to her."  
Ryu nodded and walked off. As soon as he was out of sight, Matt sighed in relief: his brother was fine. He turned to the closed door on his right.  
'Now it's your turn Shinichi..' he whispered, 'Wake up. And then you Rei. And you too, Shiho." He glanced down the corridor as he said this. "I want the four of you back with us. All four."  
Matt was distracted by the sound of approaching footsteps. He turned to his side and saw his father walking towards him.  
"Dad!" he said with a smile, "Ryu's all right. He got up and has.." He stopped abruptly and the smile on his face faded when he noticed his father's grim look. "What happened?"  
Mark Xanders looked at his son.  
"There's a problem." he said shortly.  
Matt felt his heart sink.

_What had happened now?_  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Pitch black. Quietness.

It was the only thing she saw and heard when she finally came back to senses. Confusion filled her mind.  
'Where..? Where am I?'  
She didn't have a clue of where she was and she only vaguely remembered the past events. Her thoughts slowly began to clear out.  
'The bombs... the fire... Ryu... Ryu?' She gasped. 'Ryu!'  
She bolted up straight.  
"Ow.."  
Her head was aching and the pain seemed to extend to the rest of her body. She reached for her head with her left hand but felt it unusually heavy and hard. She felt something over a mouth and guessed that it was an oxygen mask. She then also realised that she still saw everything in black. A feeling of dread coursed through her.

_"How are you feeling, my dear?"_

Rei turned to her right towards the voice: it was a woman.

"Who are you?" she asked. Her voice sounded different through the mask. "And where am I?"

"Don't worry." the woman said soothingly, "I am a nurse and you're in a room of Tokyo General Hospital, Miss Ikeda."

Rei slowly recalled the trip in helicopter. She was on the floor and a paramedic had put an oxygen mask on her; she had caught a glimpse of Shiho, lying next to her covered in blood and suffering and also of Shinichi, looking utterly distraught. She vaguely remembered seeing Ryu, sitting at the front, breathing through an oxygen supply.

"What about my friends?" she asked, "I came with two boys and another girl. How are they?"

"Don't get tensed now." the nurse warned her, "I think you should think of yourself now."

Her tone left Rei in little doubt that arguing was fruitless. She heard the woman approach her bed and gently remove the mask from her mouth.

"What happened to my eyes?" she asked, a hint of worry in her tone.

"There were miniature fragments of dust and ash in your eyes. We cleaned them with an eyewash and put a bandage to cover them so that it would have made effect." the woman replied, "I'll remove it in a minute: you had it on for nearly six hours."

"Six hours? I slept for all that time?" Then as an afterthought, she asked, "What's the time now anyway?"

"Half past four."  
"In the morning?"  
"Yes. By the way, you didn't sleep only six hours but eight and if we also count the two hours when you were in a pained slumber before being sedated, they are ten."  
Rei was surprised: time had run on fast forward without her knowledge.  
"So, how are you feeling?" the nurse asked as she began to undo the bandages around Rei's eyes.  
"Fine." she said truthfully, "I do feel a bit of pain from my hand and head but I feel very.. relaxed."  
"Oh, that's a common effect. You've been sedated to allow you to recover."  
'Sedated, huh?' Rei thought, 'Well, this explains my odd calm despite the situation.'  
The nurse went on with her medical bulletin.  
"Anyway, you have a bruise at the back of your head." Rei reached to touch the area above her nape with her right hand and found a lump the size of an egg and winced. "Your left wrist is not broken though a few fingers are badly twisted. All in all, after a week or two of rest, you should be back as new. As for your eyes..." The nurse freed her from the last layer of bandages and then removed the two cotton disks on her eyes. "Open them slowly and tell me if you see well."  
Rei did as she was told and slowly peeled her eyelids apart.  
Everything was black at first but then it started to brighten. She opened and closed her eyes repeatedly in an attempt to focus better; instantly, she watched the two blurry-looking floating chairs in front of her merge into one. The room had white walls and a light green tiled floor and her bed was in the center, headboard against the wall. There was a white metal wardrobe on her left, a steel table on her right with two chairs next to it; a chair was in front of her and it was probably where the nurse had been sitting till now. She was sitting on a typical hospital bed that had white sheets and covers and she noticed that she was wearing one of that horrid hospital shirts that went down to her knees. Her initial wonder vanished on the spot when she recalled the state of her clothing.  
She saw a machine on her left side: it had been monitoring her respiratory system constantly and was connected to an oxygen bottle. Rei turned to look at her right hand and found it plastered up to her wrist leaving only the last two finger visible. Remembering how she had freed herself from the handcuff, she had to be glad that she hadn't broken her bones.  
"Well?"  
Rei turned to her left and saw a nurse in her early thirties with short black hair, hidden under the uniform's hat. She looked slightly concerned.  
"I'm fine thanks." Rei said with a smile, "I see everything very well: all the colours, all the details.. Everything."  
"Very good." the woman said with a smile.  
"Can I get up?" Rei asked, "I want to know how my friends are doing."  
"What? No! You have to rest, Miss Ikeda: you have gone through respiratory problems. The doctors have ordered bed rest for you."  
Rei looked at her.  
"I will be careful." she said, "I won't strain myself and if I feel tired I'll come here straightforward but, please let me go and see them."  
The pleading note in her tone and the concern in her blue eyes made the nurse soften.  
"Oh.. All right." she said at the end, making Rei smile widely, "But if you don't feel well.."  
"I'll come straight here and rest." the girl finished, "Like a model patient."  
The nurse smiled.  
"There's a backpack with your clothes in the cupboard." she remarked. Seeing Rei's questioning gaze, she continued, "An old man, I think a relative of the other girl that came with you brought it here."  
"An old man?" the girl asked, "With glasses?"  
When the nurse nodded, Rei understood who it was.  
'Agase..'  
She slowly got out of bed, wincing slightly as she felt her muscles, bones and injuries ache. As she did so, she caught a glimpse of her reflection on the closed window's mirror.  
She had a bandage around her head, due to the blow that had knocked her out in the forest hours ago, a few band aids on her face and other bandages on her arms. She realised that the nurses must have washed her when she was asleep because she wasn't covered in ash and blood anymore and even her hair wasn't mattered with blood or soot either. The nurse approached her, holding the backpack.  
"I will wait outside." she said, "In case you need me." The woman had realised that Rei was a self-sufficient person. The girl smiled and slowly walked to the bathroom and opened the door. She unzipped the backpack and took out a pair of loose black trousers and a light blue blouse with short sleeves. As she bent down to slip on a pair of socks and the trainers, she smirked thinking that her other trainers had nearly melted in her attempt to start a fire, burning her jeans too. When she was ready, she pushed the door open and found the nurse by the door.  
"You have a visit." she remarked with a smile, "Your friend knows where you have to go afterwards, so I will leave. Call me if you need anything."  
"Yes. Thank you." Rei said gratefully but then wondered who was there to visit her. Agase?  
The nurse left, leaving the door half closed. Rei walked towards it but stopped when it opened again. Her heartbeats doubled within seconds while a smile crossed her face.  
He entered timidly, closing the door softly behind him as though she was asleep and he didn't want to make noise but when he caught sight of her standing in the middle of the room, he smiled and his eyes lit up. Rei didn't even have the chance to step forward that he had reached her with a few quick strides and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in a gentle embrace.  
"Rei.." he whispered in her hair.  
The girl felt a lump in her throat as she hugged him back.  
"Ryu.." she murmured, "You're... you're fine."  
He nodded, pulling her closer to him and ignoring the light stabs of pain coming from his injuries. They stayed like this for a few minutes, both unable to express themselves through words: happiness, relief and many other emotions were raging through their hearts. When they finally broke the embrace, they looked at each other; Rei gasped as she noticed Ryu's state: she hadn't caught it completely before.  
A thin bandage was around his forehead, band aids on his face and a thick bandaging started from his neck to his shoulders and down his back and chest; she could see the white stripes of material through his shirt. Even his hands had a thin bandaging.  
She laid her arm on his shoulder as her eyes scanned him from head to toe.  
"What happened to you?" she asked, concern clear in her tone, "The last time I saw you, you didn't have all these injuries."  
"Well, that was before I jumped down from a seven meter high window." Ryu remarked airily, "Oh, and before I smashed against a car's front."  
Rei stared at him.  
"_Excuse me?_" she asked.  
Ryu took her hand, lead her to the bed and made her sit down; then he took a chair and sat down in front of her. He knew that she was still weak and didn't want her to get tired.  
"How much do you remember?" he asked.  
"Well, the fire was encircling us." Rei started, aware that he was still holding her hand, "You threw the chair against the window and then.. You covered my head with your jacket and told me that everything would have gone well... You smiled when you said this." She paused for a moment. "I don't remember everything afterwards: I just remember voices and a few flashes of the trip to come here." Rei looked at Ryu. "What happened after? We dived from the window and..?"  
The boy told her everything. They were flying down while Matt and FBI were there ready to catch them when Kid showed up on his hang glider; he grabbed the magician's hand but as the last bomb set off, they couldn't hold the grip and were sent flying away because of the shock wave. He crashed against James Fabian's car with her, destroying it.  
Rei's face showed that she was beyond being shocked or surprised; she finally understood why Ryu resembled to a mummy now. She was going to ask him something when she caught his stare and was startled to see his usually clear eyes shining with tears.  
"Ryu?" she asked in concern, "What..?"  
"You.." he whispered, "You were not breathing, Rei."  
"What?" Confusion was in her tone, "What do you mean, Ryu?"  
"After we crashed against the car, Matt rushed to help us. He lifted us from the car and laid us on the ground; I woke up but you... Chris was checking how you were and she told me that you weren't breathing." Ryu tightened the grip on her hand. "I felt..."  
Suddenly Rei recalled something: she had heard something while she wavering from consciousness to unconsciousness..

_"Don't you dare, Rei... Don't you dare leave me."_

'That's...' she thought, recognising the soft whisper.

"My mind went blank…I didn't know what to do..." he said softly.

_"..Not like my mother, my father and Françoise... I wouldn't bear to loose you."_

'It's him..'

Rei looked at Ryu. The boy blinked back tears and reached for her cheek with his free hand, gently stroking it. Rei closed her eyes, savouring his touch and remembering something else.

_"Rei, I love you. Don't give up... Stay with me.. Don't leave me."_

She felt his pain: all his desperation. She vaguely recalled that she felt droplets of water fall on her face. Rei opened her eyes, staring at Ryu again.

'He was.. crying?' she thought, 'For me?'

She had seen cry him only once and it had been for his family. That day he had opened his heart to her, confiding her his hidden feelings and his guilt. And now, he had cried for her.

Without saying anything, Rei leaned forward and hugged him, leaving him quite taken aback; before he could say anything, she moved her lips to his ear.

"I heard you." she whispered.

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"I heard your voice after our dive from the window. I heard you calling me." Rei broke the embrace and looked at him, boring into his light blue eyes. "You were asking me to stay."

A faint line of blush crossed Ryu's face but he smiled nevertheless.

"I was pleading you to stay, Rei." he corrected, "To stay with me." He cupped her face with his hands. "I truly wouldn't know what to do if something happened to you."

The statement had come out of his mouth fluently, with hesitation. Rei blushed and unknowingly to her, a few tears streaked her face.

"I.. I wouldn't know what to do if something happened to you either." she whispered and embarrassedly wiped the tears away with her plastered hand. She looked at him, smiling slightly. "I will never leave you. I.."

She couldn't continue for Ryu had leaned forward, hands still cupping her cheeks, and sealed her lips with his in a sweet kiss. Rei's right hand reached for his face and found it moist with tears just like hers. They were tears of joy and great relief.

Rei and Ryu were the kind of people that never allowed emotions to overflow or overcome them. Maybe it was due to their pasts, to the fact that they had lost their families at a young age; or maybe, it was because they had been forced to grow up fast. Perhaps too fast. They had both decided to wear a thin mask that never truly revealed what were their feelings: they would smile, be happy and laugh but deep inside, they wouldn't feel those emotions. It seemed as though their past unhappiness was repelling anything that could make them happy. They both had a guilt complex: guilt for being alive while the ones they loved weren't On the exterior it seemed that they had coped with the loss but inside they had emotions buried deep inside which were waiting for the minimum sign of weakness to explode.

They had removed the masks from their faces hardly a year ago, months after they had befriended. They had already started to work together and in their investigation, they had found out the truth behind their families death. It had been the final straw: Rei and Ryu had been forced to face their pain and, surprisingly, they had discovered that talking to each other was helpful. They soon found out that they could trust each other completely without needing to hide anything and shortly they became the other's confidant. This deepened their friendship.

In the past months, their circle of confidants had enlarged: Shinichi, Shiho, Agase and, of course Matt. But, yet, Ryu and Rei didn't tell them everything about themselves and preferred to talk about their deepest thoughts only with each other. And when they finally admitted their feelings for each other, this bond deepened more. They both knew that they could really be themselves only with one another: they didn't have to hide their emotions.  
Slowing parting, Rei leaned her forehead against Ryu's one, her dark brown bangs mingling with his dark blond strands, her lips curving in a smile as she saw him smiling at her.

"I love you too, Ryu." she said softly, "I should have told you this last evening."

He didn't say anything but just reached for her, pulling her in a gentle and warm embrace again. Rei heard him whisper the same three words again in her hair. They didn't move for a few moments and forcefully parted when they recalled their friends.

"How are Shiho and Shinichi?" Rei asked, vaguely remembering their state in the helicopter.

Ryu shook his head.

"I don't know." he said, "Matt didn't know much either."

"We should go to see them."

"Yes."

They were getting up when Rei noticed the thick thread bracelet with the star on Ryu's wrist. As a cue, she reached for her neck and her eyes clouded when she found it bare.

"I found it." Ryu said, noticing her stare, "Don't worry."

Rei's eyes lit up again and she looked at him.

"Where is it?" she asked.

He put his hand in his jeans' pocket, drawing out a silver chain with a crucifix and a star on it. But when she held out her hand, he withdraw the chain out of her reach. He smirked slightly at her annoyed and surprised expression.

"I have something that you will surely appreciate more." he remarked, laying the chain on the bedside table near her bed. He put his hand in his other pocket and withdrew something, hiding it from her view since it was hidden in his fist. She looked at him curiously but he merely smiled, holding out his fist at her eyes' level; without any warning, he opened it and a golden glimmer hung down from it.

Rei's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes widened in stunned surprise.

It was a thin golden chain with a golden crucifix.

Hands trembling slightly, she reached for it and took it her cast-free hand. She slowly took the crucifix and turned it around: there was an engraving on the back. Two words. Written in Japanese. Her eyes filled with tears as she read them.

Hope and Trust.

It was her mother's gift.

Rei couldn't find her voice anymore. She looked up at Ryu.

"Matt gave it to me." he said, understanding her state.

"How...?" she choked, "How did he get it?"

"Don't ask me. He just said -I have my ways."

Rei still couldn't believe it. Her chain: the one she had thought she had lost forever. It was in her hands now.

"Do you want me to put it on you?" Ryu asked, gesturing at the golden item.

Rei was going to nod when her eyes fell on the silver chain on the bedside table.

Ryu's chain. His gift to her. She couldn't...

All of a sudden she remembered what her mother had said when she had given her the chain.

_"Whenever you will put this chain or even when you just look at it, you will remember me. And all my love for you, darling."_

Rei stayed in silence, thinking. Then, a smile crossed her face, her eyes hidden by her bangs.

"I know you will understand, Mum." she whispered to herself and turned to Ryu. The boy just looked back at her in confusion. She took the silver chain and handed it to him.

"Put this one me." she said.

Ryu looked at her in surprise.

"Are you sure?" he asked, "What about..?"

"I know what I'm doing. Don't worry: just put this one on me, please."

Nodding in agreement, the boy did as he was told and put the chain around the girl's neck. Then, as he backed a few steps, she turned around and handed him the gold chain.

"You put this one." she said.

Ryu's eyes widened.

"What?" he asked, "Rei, it's your mother's gift... I don't think that.." He was stopped by the soft touch of her hand on his lips. She smiled at him in that particular way that made his heart melt.

"You gave me this." she said softly, touching the silver chain on her neck, "Your chain. And I want to give you mine. I know that you will keep it well." Ryu still looked stunned, so she continued. "It.. It's a sign.. a symbol of my love and my gratitude. Ryu, you saved my life. I don't think there are words that could express what I feel for you. I don't know how to thank you." Her blue eyes bore into his. She took his hand and put the golden chain in his palm. "Take it."

The boy slowly smiled back and nodded. Bangs shading his eyes, he put the chain on his neck, adjusting the crucifix on the front. He had understood what Rei meant: this wasn't only her way to thank him. She was right there weren't words to explain: their bond was so unique that it was inexplicable. He had saved her life today but she had saved his months ago.

Exchanging their chains was like accepting a piece of the other: Ryu felt as though he had a bit of Rei in him and he was sure that she felt the same. Moving down so that their foreheads touched again, he smiled again.

"You saved me too, Rei." he whispered, "I wouldn't have let anything happen to you."

"I saved you?" she asked, "When?"

"When you told me to open my heart." He took her face in his hands so that they were looking at each other, "I had shut my feelings deep inside, deleting myself in the process. I was acting as another person, trying to cancel who I was because it made me suffer. You brought Ryu Kazama back to life."

Rei couldn't say anything. She just looked at him, taking in his words and gasped slightly when he leaned to kiss her again. She slowly kissed him back as the usual, familiar feelings took over her. Heartbeats quickening, warmth spreading through her body, all rationality fleeing away from her mind, leaving space only for the emotions that he caused in her and, as they deepened the kiss, the feeling of being completed, of being part of something that was made by the two of them and no one else.

Only them.

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Blue eyes opened with a start. For a flash, fear and shock danced in them.

Shinichi sat up on his bed, sweat moistening his forehead and his breath heavy. He winced as a stab of pain came from his head and slowly reached for it: he felt a thick layer of bandages underneath his fingers and as he moved his hand, a sharp pain at his arm made him wince again.

Briefly recalling the past events and the reason of his injuries, he still couldn't understand why he was in one of the hospital's beds. The last thing he remembered was talking to Agase.

Thinking of Agase made him remember someone else.

He tossed the sheets over and got out of bed, ignoring the stabs of pain.

'Shiho..' he thought, getting to his feet, 'How are you now?'

He was walking to the door when he realised that he was bare foot and wearing a white knee-length shirt. Cursing under his breath, he looked around the room and saw the backpack Agase had prepared for all four of them; he pulled out a a white shirt and a blue trousers, slipped on a pair of sock along with his shoes and walked to the table next to his bed where was a jug of water with a glass. His mouth was dry and he needed to drink at least a gulp of water.

As he drank, his eyes flickered around the room, taking in the simpleness and the whiteness, typical of medical environments; his stare fell on the closed window and seeing the dark sky through the shutter's holes, his eyes narrowed. How long had he been asleep?

He saw his stun-gun watch on the bedside table along with his old glasses and the earring telephone; he stuffed everything but his watch in his trousers' pockets. He put the watch and checked the time: three o'clock. Shinichi cursed again and headed to the door.

As he left the room, not even bothering to close the door after him, he only had one thought in his mind. The conditions of a certain reddish-blonde girl.

He was desperately hoping that Shiho was fine.

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Ryu and Rei were walking down a corridor, heading to Intensive Care where Shiho should still be; in the meantime, Ryu was telling Rei all the events that had occurred down at the Bay and at the valley and that she didn't know.

"Shiho took the bullet instead of Shinichi?" Rei asked.

"Yes, near her heart." the boy replied grimly, "And he couldn't do anything but catch her in his arms." He shook his head. "I can imagine how he's feeling."

"But what about him? He was injured too, right?"

"A bullet got Shiho's and his arm. And don't forget the two blows he received on the head by Akai."

Rei sighed.

"I just hope that both are fine."

Ryu looked at her.

"I hope so."

They had identical looks of concern on their faces as they walked on. The hospital was quiet: it seemed that all the other injured policemen and FBI agents had been treated and dismissed. And so were the members of the Organisation because there were no guards in front of any room.

The couple walked down another corridor and got to the small waiting room in front of Intensive Care's ward. They stopped abruptly when they saw the crowd of people in the room.

"Rei!"

"Ryu!"

Chris, Lucas and Kaito got up to greet them. The American girl hugged Rei while the boy grabbed Ryu's hand. Kaito was smiling broadly.

"It's so good to see you." Chris said to Rei, broking the embrace.

"It would have been better if we were in another place though." Rei stated, shaking Lucas' hand.

"Yes."

Suddenly remembering a conversation with Matt, the Japanese girl looked at the American teens.

"Listen, I.. I'm sorry." she said.

"What for?" Lucas asked in bewilderment.

"I didn't tell anyone about our plan. Well, Matt told me about you at.. you know... my funeral."

Lucas and Chris looked at each other and then at Rei.

"Don't worry." the girl said, hugging her again, "It doesn't matter now."

"Next time tell us, though." Lucas remarked with a grin. He turned to Ryu. "And you too: inform us when you decide to vanish in thin air."

Rei and Ryu smiled.

Agase approached them too. Concern was etched on his features.

"Rei-kun, Ryu-kun!" he said, obviously relieved to see them, "How are you? Are you all right?"

"Yes, Agase." the girl said, hugging the old scientist while the boy nodded with a half smile, "What about Shiho? And Shinichi?"

Looking troubled and avoiding the teens' gaze for a second, Agase stayed in silence.

"Shinichi-kun is inside." he said after a few moments, "He woke up and came here more than a hour ago." The man looked at Ryu and Rei with great concern. "He's not himself: he didn't say a word. Just asked about Shiho-kun and then dashed inside."

"How's Shiho?" Ryu echoed Rei's question.

"The operation ended hours ago and the bullet has been extracted but.. they are still keeping her inside. We don't know why. The doctors said that she's under observation but won't give further reasons."

"Nothing at all?" Rei asked.

"Nothing."

A strange feeling of dread surged in Ryu and Rei as they exchanged a glance. The girl sighed slightly and looked around the room: Inspector Knight was sitting in a corner, looking thoughtful; near the window were a man and woman that she vaguely remembered seeing during Conan and Ai's departure.

"Where's Matt?" Ryu asked. He had looked around the room too and had noticed the absence of his brother. He looked at Chris questioningly but she just shrugged.

"The last time I saw him he was in front of your room." Kaito said, "Hours ago."

Arching an eyebrow wondering where Matt could be, Ryu turned to Rei.

"Let's go inside." he said, eyeing the doors in front of him. The girl nodded and the two went inside Intensive Care without hesitation.

They walked down the corridor and found Shinichi standing in front of a door. He didn't seem to hear them coming and looked up, startled, when Rei touched his shoulder.  
The girl failed to repress a shudder when she met his stare: he merely looked up at her with blank eyes. Rei had seen him face many situations and couldn't recall to have ever seen him like this. His eyes that would shine excitedly when faced with a challenging case or would glow with determination when protecting others or would turn in that characteristic half-moon shape when annoyed or sarcastic, were now just... just…void. Empty. Ryu was just as shaken as Rei to see Shinichi's state; however, he knew that hidden under the voidness of emotions was a deep pain.

"Shinichi..." Rei said softly, finding her voice.

"Rei.." he replied, a ghost of his usual smile flickered on his face when he looked at her, "You're fine. I'm glad."

She knew he meant it though his eyes and his tone didn't show it. The girl forced a smile, standing next to him.

"Thanks." she whispered, "What about you?" Her eyes scanned him, noticing the bandages around his head; the left side, in particular, had been heavily bandaged and nearly covered his eye; she also saw the bandages around his arm and the plasters on his face.

The boy shrugged.

"I'm all right." he said, "But.." He turned to look at the door, fear flashing in his eyes.

"Any news?" Ryu asked, leaning on the wall opposite the two dark-haired teens.

Shinichi looked at him, surprised as though he had seen him only now. He shook his head.

"No. Nothing," he said, "I've been here for a while and no one has told me anything."

"But the operation's over, right?" the blonde asked, wanting to confirm Agase's words.

"Yes and the bullet's been taken out but.. they don't say how she is."

"Why?" Rei was exasperated.

"I don't know!" Shinichi burst out.

The three fell silent, unable to go on with the conversation. The only sound came from medical machineries used in the ward. After a while, Shinichi broke the trance.

"It's my fault." he blurted out.

"What?" Rei and Ryu turned to him in surprise.

"It's my fault if Shiho's in there." the detective went on, "She took the bullet in my place. _I _should be on that bed instead of her. _I _should be fighting for my life, not her."

Rei and Ryu exchanged a glance, knowing what was taking over Shinichi. Guilt. That so familiar feeling to them.

"Shinichi..." Rei started in a soothing tone, "That's not true."

The boy looked at her, desperation in his eyes.

"It _is_ true, Rei." he said sharply, "I'm here, safe and sound while Shiho's in there for something that shouldn't have happened to her." He gritted his teeth and slammed a fist against the wall in frustration. "I promised to be there for her. To protect her.."

"You didn't do it purposely, Shinichi." Ryu stated, leaving the wall and approaching him, "It happened: you couldn't have changed it."

"I should have tried!" Shinichi's voice had turned to an angry whisper. "I shouldn't have let her pull me away or could have stepped to the front.."

"Could have…should have…" the blonde remarked, "But you didn't. There's no point to think of it now: you can't go back and change what happened."

Shinichi's eyes narrowed slightly as anger was slowly building up in him along with all his frustration. Rei and Ryu shot each other the smallest of looks: they had reached their purpose. They knew that Shinichi was bottling up all his feelings up and only making him vent all his anger and bitterness would have made him feel better. They both knew how guilt could make you feel.

"That's rich coming from you." Shinichi snapped, "You didn't seem to think so when you were involved." He looked at Ryu. "Your parents and your sister?" He turned to Rei. "And your family?"

Rei stiffened, Ryu's eyes hardened but neither said a word.

"That's different." the girl remarked coolly.

"Oh really? How?" Annoyance was clear in the detective's tone.

"You still have a chance. It was different for us: when we started to think of what we could have done, it was already too late."

Shinichi looked at her in mild confusion.

"Our families were already dead when we began to think of what could have been done." Ryu pointed out in a very cool tone, "Rei's right: your case is different. Shiho is still alive."

Shinichi paled and felt all his anger disappear, replaced by a burning feeling of shame.

"I...I'm.." he stuttered, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.." He looked at his friends apologetically.

Ryu waved his hand, a small smile on his face. Rei smiled too and put a hand on his arm.

"You can still be there for her." she said, "She needs your help now more than ever." Shinichi nodded numbly, bangs hiding his eyes. Rei continued. "And, Shinichi, did you really think that Shiho would stay still while you were in danger?" He didn't answer. "I know that you made her that promise. But you can't honestly be surprised that she stepped in front to take the bullet in your place. You're the only one that can fully understand Shiho and you're the only one that knows how strong are her feelings." Sh paused a moment before going on. "Just think of your own feelings for her: hers are just as strong."

Shinichi didn't say a word but the tremor of his shoulders showed his feelings. Rei glanced at Ryu who nodded. She slowly put her arm around Shinichi and hugged him.

"She will be fine." she whispered, "And you have to be strong. For her. Think of what she would have done in your place. What if the bullet really got you? I'm sure she would have had faith in you: she would have been sure that you would be fine."

"When Shiho will get up, you will have to support her." Ryu remarked slowly, "She will need you. And we.." He gestured to himself and Rei. "We will help as much as we can."

Shinichi choked back tears as he leaned on Rei's shoulder. His inner turmoil had exploded: guilt, concern, anger and many other feelings.

After a few moments, he straightened and hastily wiped the tears away with his sleeve. His shot a look at Rei who smiled slightly and at Ryu who gave him a firm nod.

He wasn't alone. Shiho wasn't alone. There were many people that cared for her and they were all there for her and also for him. Rei was right: he had to be strong.

For Shiho.

No longer he had thought this, the door opposite him opened and a doctor came out. He looked weary but his expression turned to shock when he saw the three teenagers in front of him.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he asked, recognising them, "You should be in bed!" He stared at them with an expression torn between bewilderment and shock. He looked at Shinichi. "You had a concussion and heavy blood loss." He turned to Rei. "You nearly died for smoke intoxication." He looked at Ryu. "You had the worst case of exhaustion and physical strain I had ever seen. You three shouldn't be able to move! How _did_ you get here?"

"_You_ owe us an explanation, doctor." Ryu said, stepping in front, "What's going on with Shiho?"

"You just said that the operation is over but what about her conditions?" Rei asked.

"How is she?" Shinichi voiced out.

Unable to meet the three's gaze, the doctor first looked elsewhere and then ran a hand through his hair. It seemed that he was trying to find the right words to start. The three teens exchanged identical glances of concern.

"Yes, the operation has gone well and the bullet has been extracted." the doctor remarked slowly.

"_And_..?" Rei pressed on.

"Miss Miyano has been seriously wounded." he said seriously, "The bullet has grazed her vital organs: it was just a few inches away from her heart. We treated her and have removed the bullet, despite it's difficult position but she isn't out of danger. Her vital values are unstable."

"What did you do till now then?" Shinichi asked, "The operation ended hours ago: what have you been doing to her?"

The man looked uneasy. The three teens' eyes were fixed on him.

"We didn't notice.." He mumbled, "We didn't notice an inner bleeding."

There was a moment of silence.

"_Excuse me?_" Ryu asked in disbelief. Rei and Shinichi looked just as bewildered.

"We have been so concerned in removing the bullet and careful not to harm her heart that we didn't notice a small cut on her lung: it was probably made by the bullet and has been bleeding the whole time. Once the operation was over, we thought she would have improved instead her values were still instable. It took us a while to realise the bleeding."

I suppose that the word bewildered and incredule would be an understatement to describe the boys and Rei's inner feelings.

"But.. you are _doctors_!" Shinichi burst out, "How come you didn't realise it before?"

The man didn't answer.

"We didn't notice it." he said after a while. His tone showed that he was concerned just as them. It also showed an amount of hidden guilt and shame.

Rei put a hand on Shinichi's shoulder, squeezing it slightly.

"How is she now?" she asked.

"We drained the blood away but her conditions are still unstable. We had to sedate her to let her rest; then we will see.." He looked at the three. "It's all up to her, her strength and her desire to live." Ignoring the stunned looks on the their faces, the man nodded. "We will be moving her to a private room in a few minutes but visits will have to wait." he said, regaining a bit of his professional tone, "The patient must not be strained." With that, he left.

His words had worried Shinichi more than anything else. That sentence was whirling in his mind.

'Her desire to live...'

Hadn't Shiho voluntarily taken the APTX-4869 rather than allowing the Organisation to accomplish her death sentence? Hadn't she chosen to end her life with her own hands instead of being killed by the same people that had murdered her family? Fortunately, her creation had betrayed her, shrinking her to the size of a seven year old but even as Ai, hadn't she often thought that her life wasn't as worthy as the ones of the people next to her? Shinichi couldn't help but remember all the times when she chose to sacrifice herself for her friends' safety. For his safety as well.

Ryu was thinking on the same lines: hadn't Shiho accepted to meet Gin rather than risking the others to be hurt?

_"Don't even think of it."_

The two boys jumped. Rei looked at both with an oddly cool gaze.

"She has changed." she said, "Shiho doesn't value her life less now. We have to trust her." She turned to Shinichi. "You know it: she has more than a person caring for her. She has a family." Rei turned to Ryu. "She has _us_."

The boys nodded, looking guilty at the thought of having doubted of Shiho's inner strength.

"We should tell Agase." the detective said after a while, "He's worried about her too."

The three turned around and walked back to the main door.  
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I had to do it again... Grrrr..

I had to split a chapter in two. And I'm hating myself. -Sigh- I wish I had more time to write..

Anyway, coming back to the point, I'm extremely sorry! I last updated in September!

I tried my best to write the story: whenever I had spare time I set down to write a few lines. I think many will notice that this chapter has been written in different moments. It's pretty obvious in the writing. There are romantic moments, then sad ones, then humorous ones and again romantic ones and so on..

I'll try my best to update soon, though I can't say when. Anyway, I'm NOT stopping the story: updates will come. Slowly but they will come.

I sincerely thank all reviewers and readers.

Oh, by the way, I'm reposting the older chapters, correcting mistakes and adding a few details here and there. If you have time check them out and tell me if there are still mistakes around.

Bye!

REVIEW!

A.N: I hope that there aren't any mistakes left in the chapter now. I reread it and corrected. If there are still mistakes please tell me.

Bye!


	31. Trust and Hope B

Four points of the same star.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Detective Conan.

-...- transceiver talk

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR Chapter 28: Trust and Hope (B)

_**Trust**: To rely on, to confide, or repose faith.  
_

_**Hope**: To trust with confident expectation of good.._

_-_

It was late, very late. So late that it could almost be early from a certain point of view.

This was what Matt thought as he walked on his crutches through the hospital's corridors, inwardly cursing Vodka for having shot him.

He stifled a yawn and felt his eyelids heavy. He angrily brushed a hand on his face as the recent events came back to his mind, waking him up completely.

'_Why?_' he wondered, increasing his speed, 'Why doesn't this _damn_ day end?'

He had talked... discussed,.. -oh, all right, argued with his father as soon as he had heard his last piece of news. It was the last thing he had ever expected.

It was too much. After all they had gone through, all the troubles, dangers and risks..

No, this was definitely too much.

It should be a day of celebration. They had won! They had vanquished the Organisation: they had what many thought was impossible.

'But at what cost?' he thought, stopping near a window at looking out. It was still dark but he could see the sky changing colour at the very end as the rising sun was going to come.

So many had died that day: some people that he didn't know, some that he had barely seen but there were others that... he knew. They had been his teachers before entering FBI. His advisers once he became an agent. His colleagues and companions once they learned about MYSTERY.

And now they were nothing more than still, soulless bodies.

He had seen them along with his father while they were talking in a silent alley.

Matt would never forget the feeling that chilled his body as he saw the line of beds wheeling on front of him, carrying bodies covered by a white sheet or already in a black plastic zip-bag. Neither will he ever forget the look on his father's face. Those men had been comrades, colleagues but most of all friends of old time. That were no more now.

The boy looked up towards the sky.

'You're cruel, you know?' he mentally remarked to the Entity above, 'Those men had families. Wives that won't see their husbands, children that will grow without fathers.. Why?'

The Organisation was the main responsible of all of this not Him. He knew it but.. even now that they were all captives, there were still the wounds left. Wounds that were hard to heal and that maybe would never heal completely. Who was the one to blame? _Who_ could he blame to feel slightly better somehow?

A sigh escaped the boy's lips and he suddenly recalled Ryu's arrival at his home.

That had been the first time he had ever seen his father that shaken: he was close to tears as he said that the Kazamas had died and that little Ryu would live with them.

Matt remembered Mr and Mrs Kazama: they often came to his house with their children. Mrs Kazama was very beautiful: a woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes that spoke English with a French accent. She had captured little Matt's heart with her gentleness and care. She was like an aunt to him: his favourite aunt. Auntie Catherine...

He liked Mr Kazama too. Uncle Misaki.. The man, he remembered, often repaired the toys he accidentally broke. He played with him too, just like his Dad or Uncle James did. Ryu, Matt and their fathers often started long car races that ended at dinner time when Ryu's and his mother would forcefully drag them to the table.

And then there was little Françoise.. A cute little girl that bounced here and there, playing with a doll that his mother would _always_ buy for her. Matt smiled, recalling the child's face when Ryu would ask her to play with him and Matt: she would frown and shake her head. A disgusted "Ew.." would come from her at the mention of boyish things such as cars and trucks. Matt would put on an equally disgusted face when she would show him the doll, asking him to play with her.

Ryu often agreed. Little Matt had never understood how he could even stand to hold a doll, yet alone play with them.. But later he understood. Ryu loved his sister beyond anything in the world: he would do anything for her. Matt regretted that he had didn't have siblings so that he could share a bond like that.

His wish had been granted in the worst of ways...

Matt sighed, passing a hand through his hair. So many things had changed since then, since he was just ten. It seemed as it was another lifetime and not only eight years ago.

When people asked what he would like to be when he will be older, little Matt promptly replied "A lawyer!" and not a policeman like his Dad. Not because he didn't respect his father: he loved his Dad. He didn't want to become a policeman because he didn't like guns. The simple thought of handling something so dangerous terrified him. He could hurt with a gun. Even as a child, Matt never played with guns. Water-guns, yes. Toy guns with rubber bullets, no. And a lawyer, he had thought, was a bit like a policeman, wasn't he? He protected innocent people but in a courtroom and not outside using guns but with words. A haughty smirk appeared on the boy's lips.

'What has happened to that Matt?' he wondered.

Now he was an FBI agent. One who you _used_ guns, the same weapons he despised as a child.

'I have just changed..' he thought, 'As everyone. Time changes you...'

He had become a lawyer in attempt to keep up with his past wish but entering FBI had been a decision he had taken in a second moment. When he found what Ryu had in his mind.

He still remembered the little Ryu, so unlike the present one. When he was still Ryu Kazama, before the tragedy of his family and his adoption.

He was like any other child. Just like Matt himself. Vivacious with an impish twinkle in his eyes, joyous with a constant smile on his face. He loved his parents very much and adored his little sister. A happy child with a happy family. And then..

"Poof.." Matt whispered, snapping his fingers with a sad smile. Everything vanished just like a wisp of smoke.

Matt couldn't forget Ryu's arrival: he had came at his house straight after his stay at the hospital. After having known to be the only survivor of the fire.

He was a ghost of his usual self. The eyes of the twelve year old were blank, all emotions were gone. Even the pain had vanished, leaving only a sense of voidness. But as the days passed, Ryu changed. The weeks became months and Ryu got used to his new family but he wasn't the old Ryu.

He changed completely.

Matt saw it everyday. Ryu Kazama slowly disappeared, leaving free space to Ryu Xanders, becoming Matt's new adoptive brother. But the American saw that despite his attitude, he wasn't happy as he was once. Every smile, every laugh, every feeling and emotion never touched Ryu deeply: it brushed his heart but didn't go inside. The sense of loss and the grief had built up a wall around him, an unclimbable wall.

Ryu, at the age of twelve, was able to hide the deepest pain under a smile.

'Even Kid would have trouble to keep such a Poker Face..' Matt thought.

He would show his true feelings only when his guard was down. And that was during his sleep. Dreams, or better, nightmares haunted Ryu's sleep and Matt, who shared the room with him, was the only one to know how in pain the boy was. Ryu never voiced anything about his personal tragedy loudly but in his sleep, he trashed in his bed, murmuring pleas and apologies full of regret and guilt. It was heart-breaking to hear him beg his sister to forgive him for not having saved her.

At the end, when he realised that things were getting out of hand, when the nightmares were becoming more and more persistent, Matt confronted Ryu, sincerely worried for him.

The blond, after many restraints, opened up a bit. He confessed him that he felt guilty for being the only one to have survived and he told him about his plan to discover the truth.

Matt remembered how surprised -no, saying that he was surprised was an understatement. He was completely astounded to hear he plan that Ryu had created. The twelve, nearly thirteen year old boy had come out with a detailed schedule for his following four years during which he would have done the amount of studies and work that would have taken at least ten years for a normal person.

And all to find the killer of his family.

Matt had been skeptical at the beginning but then, when he saw how serious Ryu was, he changed his mind and something surged in him. Something new.

Brotherly concern. The desire to help and protect a brother.

That very day, Matt and Ryu became really brothers. It wasn't just a common surname behind their names or living in the same house.

Matt learned that everything wasn't only black and white: there were shades of gray and sometimes compromises had to be taken. This lead him to become an FBI agent: he wanted to help Ryu.

Ryu, on the other hand, learned to open up a bit. He still didn't speak about his inner feelings but nevertheless, he wasn't the introvert he had been before. He knew he wasn't alone as he thought.

They had gone through Junior High, High School and then College together. Always together, though they were a year apart. They studied together, did sports together, had fun together.

As friends. As brothers. And when they were already settled in college, another person joined them.

Matt smiled when he thought of Rei. The quiet Japanese girl that appeared in their lives and that studied Computer Science at their college. The outstandingly brilliant undergraduate that never boasted her intelligence and that blushed whenever she was complimented for it. The only girl, besides Chris, Matt told himself, that he cared for dearly.

'When she doesn't irk the living hell out of me talking about computers...' the boy thought with a smirk, 'Or when she starts rambling of computer science with Chris, Luc or Ryu.'

She was the one that had pierced through Ryu's shield. Matt had seen from the start: Ryu had fallen for her straightforward. The look in his eyes, the smile on his face, everything of him changed with Rei. Occasionally, Matt could see the old Ryu Kazama surface back.

When they joined FBI, when they planned MYSTERY and when they asked Rei to join them, Ryu slowly dropped his shields, allowing the people next to him to see what were his feelings. Matt knew that the only one that managed to get deep inside was only Rei.

He and then Shinichi and Shiho, knew Ryu deeply but the one that knew him throughly, the one that had the key to his heart... that was Rei.

Matt pondered for a while and then looked out from the window towards the sky.

"Maybe, I was wrong.." he stated to Him, "You helped us. Making us meet Rei, then Shinichi and Shiho.. Kuroba..Agase... Akemi Miyano..We needed help. _Ryu_ needed help for his plan: if we hadn't met all of them, we wouldn't have been able to be here. We wouldn't have brought the Organisation down." The boy's green eyes clouded as he stared at the sky. "I've never been a religious person and I have to admit that I pray rarely but if you are there and can hear me..."

He stopped, choosing the right words.

"Make them be fine. _All_ of them. I don't ask for anything more."

With that the boy walked away, feeling definitely lighter.

--:--

As soon as Shinichi, Rei and Ryu came out of Intensive Care, they were approached by Agase and, again, the young detective took the decision to tell him what was going on. In the meanwhile, Rei was introduced to Detectives Satou and Takagi by Chris while Ryu joined Kaito and Lucas.

Ten minutes later, Matt entered the room. His eyes were clouded but they lit up slightly when he caught sight of Rei and Shinichi. The dark-haired girl smiled broadly and approached him and they hugged each other in a brotherly fashion.

"How are you, Rei?" he asked, parting and taking in her appearance.

"Fine. Now at least." she said. The boy smirked.

"Yeah, you sure look better. Last time I saw you, you had landed on the Uncle James' car, covered in a burnt jacket and with blood and soot all over you."

He smirked again when he noticed the look on her face. He turned to Shinichi who nodded solemnly at him. One look at his face and Matt knew that Shiho was still in danger. The boy just nodded back, a small encouraging smile on his face. The detective had a faint smile on his face as he nodded in gratitude. He walked towards him after giving a small pat on Agase's back.

Matt looked around and saw Ryu and Kaito looking at him: he gestured the two to come closer.

"I have to talk to you guys." he whispered as soon as they approached him, "All of you." He eyed Ryu, Kaito, Shinichi and Rei seriously. He then looked over at Lucas and Chris. "Luc? Chris? Can you say here and tell us if anything changes? We'll be back in a bit."

The boy nodded, noticing the look on the other's face but the girl stared at him, questioning him silently. Matt smiled slightly and shot her a look that seemed to say -I'll tell you later. Chris nodded and Matt turned to the other four. "Come on."

They walked out of the waiting room and down the corridor. Matt stopped in front of a room, allowed the others to get in and then closed the door behind him, locking it. He turned around and saw the questioning looks on the other teens' faces. Looks that went from curiosity to concern. Ryu and Rei, in particular, was staring at him with tensed expressions.

"What's wrong?" the blond asked.

Matt's eyes were unreadable. He pushed away his bangs, eyebrows knitting together in concentration. He hesitated for a moment, then looked away as though he was trying to find the right words to start the conversation. His expression was unreadable too and the others could see that whatever was going through his mind or whatever had happened (for they all realised that something _must_ have happened), the thoughts were troubled. However, when Matt looked up, he knew that he had to be as clear as possible.

"There's a problem." he blurted out, "And I think that you all should know since you're the ones involved." Matt paused and saw that he had the others full attention. He took a deep breath.

"Dad called the Headquarter a few hours ago to inform them of this operation. And of our victory. You know that it has been kept secret. We knew that the top heads wouldn't be enthusiast for have been excluded and for not have been informed from Day 1 but..." He ran a hand through his hair: he didn't know how to tell them.. "Dad sent them a full account of MYSTERY. All the data you worked out, Rei, and that you, Ryu, took out from the Organisation. He sent them everything, also a bit of the material we took from the Headquarter here in Japan."

"Already?" Rei asked in surprise.

"Yes, Dad though that they wouldn't have got too mad if we gave them fresh information. But those.. those idiots at the top..." Matt ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"What?" Ryu asked sharply, "What's going on?" He was getting slightly annoyed by his attitude.

Matt looked at the the whole lot of them. There was a strange glint in his eyes: anger, yes, but also pity and concern.

"Among the material that we sent, there is the report we wrote about the operation and the database with all the members of Organisation's names. Dad got a call less than half an hour ago and it seems that our chief in commands are not happy about a few.. people that have taken part of the operation. Their words could be summarised like this: 'Yes, yes, very good job in tackling the Organisation but why did you use _that_ guys?'"

"So, who are the people in questi..?" Kaito asked but stopped abruptly as he caught sight of Matt's face. He turned to look at Rei, Ryu and Shinichi and saw that they were bewildered just as him.

"_Us?_" Shinichi asked, "They are mad because we took part of the operation?"

"That's ridiculous!" Rei exclaimed.

"Did they realize that it was _us_ that started the plan from the principle?" Ryu remarked coolly, crossing his arms against his chest and leaning against the wall. "That _we_ are the ones that risked everything since Day 1?"

"I know that." Matt stated just as coolly and leaned on his crutches, "But they don't. Or better, they know but don't seem to care. Now that everything is over, now that the Black Organisation is down, what do you think will happen? Everyone worldwide will know it. And what do you think will happen when the world finds out that the largest criminal group in the world has been taken down mainly by a group of teenagers and a group of agents that have kept the whole thing silent to their chiefs? Right under their noses? The chiefs will not be glad. And more than the fact that we kept everything secret... it doesn't help that we put up different stunts to carry on the plan. For them, you.." Matt looked up and pointed to Ryu. "..are a traitor, a double crosser agent that sold himself to the Organisation." His finger went to Rei. "You are considered dead for suicide." He jerked his thumb to himself. "I've gone through inquiries because they suspect I'm a double crosser in collusion with Ryu." He turned to Kaito. "And you are Phantom Thief Kid, wanted by police forces of different countries. I suppose that should be enough to understand why they aren't _so_ eager to let the world know that we have big parts in the operation."

There was an odd silence in the room. Everyone was too shocked to speak. It was an aspect that they hadn't considered: the police's reaction to their plan. They forgot about what FBI would have said once everything would have finished. But maybe they didn't think of it because, unconsciously, none of the teens were really sure that there would have been an end to this.

"What will happen now?" Rei asked, after a while.

"There will probably be an inquiry. _Another_ one." Matt said, rolling his eyes, "But Dad said that he'll try to stuff some reason in the chiefs' brains. He's on his way to the airport and is going to take the first plane back to New York. The chiefs won't know what has hit them when he'll get there. I've never seen him like that: he was pissed off beyond belief."

"And that's saying something.." Ryu remarked with a smirk. Matt frowned slightly. The two brothers were thinking about the same thing: Mark Xanders putting on a spectacular shouting fit that time when Matt had crashed his father's old motorbike against a parked car.

"Wait." Shinichi said, making everyone turn to him, "What about me? You didn't tell anything about me. Is FBI against my cooperation?"

Matt shook his head.

"Actually, no." he remarked, "You are pretty famous here and have cooperated many times with the local police forces so FBI can't say much against you.. Though they will surely ask where you have been in the past year. To tell the truth, Shinichi, I asked you to come because... the last.. person involved in MYSTERY..." Matt didn't know how to put this. "Well, her case is definitely more troublesome than ours."

"Shiho?" the young detective asked, his head jerking up in alert and making him wince slightly. "Why? What do they have against her?" Shinichi looked at Matt questioningly, waiting for an answer that didn't come. It was Ryu that talked instead.

"She left them, Matt." he remarked from his corner, "She betrayed them more than a year ago."

"And she helped us bring them down." Rei added, "She gave us information and names."

"Not to mention that she was the first name of their 'Wanted' list." Shinichi said, "They have always tried to kill her. And they have nearly managed to do it this time."

The last sentence came out as a whisper.

"I know that." Matt said patiently, "Dad knows it and so do all the people involved in MYSTERY. Unfortunately, the chiefs don't and, let's face it, even if they did, they wouldn't bother..." He ran a hand through his hair again. His ruffled hair was giving him a wild appearance. "They are annoyed because they didn't get involved in this operation, mad because they won't take the merits and if they find even one thing we missed, they will get to it. And Shiho could be a good point to start: ex-member, listed on the files and who knows what else they could make up."

"So.." Rei remarked, "They only want someone to arrest. On their own."

"A scapegoat." Shinichi stated.

"No..." Kid stated, shaking his head, "They want..."

"A trophy." Ryu muttered through his gritted teeth, cutting Kaito's sentence.

Silence filled the room.

"Exactly." Matt said at last.

--:--

It was nearly seven in the morning when Ran, Heiji and Kazuha entered the hospital. The three teens had barely slept at the Mouris house because they were too worried for the recent events. Ran, in particular, had slept an hour on the whole.

As they got out of the elevator, they were startled to see Kogoroh and Inspector Megure right in front of them, talking to Detectives Satou and Takagi. The two officers looked quite exhausted but were trying to be efficient and alert nevertheless.

"Dad!" Ran exclaimed, running to him. The man turned around, eyes definitely lighting up at the sight of his daughter. You could say anything about Kogoroh Mouri but he really cared and loved his Ran.

"Are you all right?" she asked, approaching him, "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, no." he said and laughed in his usual boastful manner, "No one can harm the great Kogoroh Mouri! You should know that, Ran." He laughed like a maniac again.

Ran, Heiji, Kazuha, Satou and Takagi sweat dropped. Megure coughed lightly.

"Ran, your father wasn't involved during the raid." he remarked, "He waited with the men that were guarding the Bay, far from the fight."

Ran nodded and took in the other men's appearance, noticing details that she hadn't seen before. Inspector Megure was exhausted and his usually tidy and crisp suit was covered with dust, dirt and, in some spots, blood; her father looked perfectly unscathed, only tired judging by the huge bags under his eyes.

"Where's my father?" Heiji asked.

"And mine?" Kazuha added with concern.

Megure smiled.

"They're both fine." he replied, "They are at our main police station. They're interrogating Chief.." The man's eyes clouded as a frown crossed his face. "The Black Organisation's leader." The correction was quickly made.

Heiji looked at the man and nodded slightly, understanding that he must be in a state of rage and shock that went beyond his knowing. What would you do if you discovered that your boss, the person who you thought was the example for every policeman, was instead the worst of criminals?

'I can't even imagine how Tousan's taking this...' he thought.

"Why are you here?" Ran asked as an afterthought. She turned to Megure. "Did you come to see Shinichi and his friends' conditions?"

"Oh... er- yes." the man replied, stammering slightly,"We.. me and Mouri-kun.. we have just come. And were just asking Takagi and Satou what had happened during the night. Let's go to the the waiting to see if we can get any news, shall we?"

The man motioned them to walk and the small group started down the corridor. Heiji strolled behind Kazuha and Ran who were asking Detective Satou what had happened during the night. He barely heard the two girls' squeal of delight when she said that Shinichi had woken up and was fine. He just stared at Megure who was acting.. weird. He had noticed the hesitance in his answer, the quick, nervous glance that he had shot at old man Mouri thought the latter didn't notice it..

'Something is up..' the boy thought, 'Something has happened..'

The little group reached the waiting room after a few minutes.

The room was very quiet both because we were in a hospital and also because the people in there were half asleep.

Sitting on the wall-benches were Chris, Rei, Ryu, Matt, Lucas and Kid. The group of teens looked exhausted: the long night, their injuries and their worry for Shiho was affecting them. Inspector Knight had left hours ago, saying that he had to reach the other Inspectors for the preliminary interrogations. Detective Fabian was nowhere seen: he had left with Inspector Xanders.

Ran looked around the room: it was empty, excluding the teens.

'Where's Shinichi?' she wondered.

As soon as the new group had entered the room, the boys and girls got up at unison. Heiji's eyes widened slightly as he scanned them: they were all sporting injuries, judging by the bandages that covered them. Who less, who more...

Inspector Megure walked towards them and turned to Matt, Chris and Lucas, the ones he knew.

"Agent Xanders." he said with a nod, "Agent Evans. Agent Daimon."

"Inspector." the three replied with a nod.

Matt stepped to the front.

"Inspector Megure, can I introduce you my friends and colleagues?" He motioned to Ryu and Rei with a hand, balancing himself on the crutches, "Agent Reila Ikeda, our best computer scientist. She's the one that decrypted the files from the Organisation." The hint of pride in the boy's tone was audible. Rei blushed deeply.

"Very pleased to me you." she mumbled, shaking his hand.

"My pleasure." the man replied, taking in the appearance of the girl in front of him. She was hurt, bandaged and yet there was something in her look that didn't show fragility but a great strength.

"This is Agent Ryuji Xanders...no, sorry, Kazama." Matt swiftly corrected his slip, "He's our infiltrated man: the one that took the information we have been working at." Again his voice carried a note pf pride.

"Pleased to meet you, sir." Ryu said, shaking the man's hand.

Megure nodded with a small smile. The boy too was injured but just like the girl, there was something in his stare that gave out a hidden strength.

'They did a lot but...' he thought and immediately recalled the conversation he had had with the other inspectors down at the police station. He slowly shook his head, trying to shake the thoughts as well and looked around he room.

"Where's Kudo-kun?" he asked, "Takagi told me that he had recovered.."

"I'll go and get him." Rei said softly and walked to the doors that led to Intensive Care. Ran peered from behind when she opened the door. She caught a glimpse of Shinichi's tall figure next to the shorter one of Hiroshi Agase. The man's face, she saw, was etched with concern.

Ran frowned slightly.

'Why is Hakase so worried?' she thought. Kazuha who was peering over Ran's shoulders, voiced her question.

"What is Agase-san doing here?" she asked, "And why does he look so worried?"

Matt and Ryu shared a quick glance. Kaito, from the corner where he had positioned himself tensed slightly. Lucas and Chris looked at them with mild puzzlement. And so did Heiji.

One thing had been kept secret during the whole plan. Only one thing was unknown to the whole MYSTERY squad.

The shrinking effect of the APTX.

No one, besides the original MYSTERY team, only the six teens, knew about Conan and Ai. How could they explain about Agase's connection to Shiho without revealing partly about Ai?

"Shiho is still unconscious." Ryu explained slowly, "Hakase knows her since he knew her father and when we called to tell him about our... accidents, he came here right away." He looked through the glass doors towards the old man's direction. "He was worried for all of us and won't t leave till we're all fine."

The others nodded in understanding and the blonde nearly sighed in relief. they had believed him. He did notice though that Heiji had a thoughtful look and so did Detectives Satou and Takagi.

'This isn't good..' he thought, 'They're suspicious..'

He was drawn out of his thoughts when the doors of Intensive Care opened and Shinichi and Rei walked out. The boy's face seemed to be chiseled in stone. He had shut down his emotions: only an emotionless mask was placed on his face. Ran who had been worried sick, couldn't even open her mouth to talk to him as she saw his appearance. Heiji was staring at his friend as though he had never seen him before.

"Inspector Megure." he said with a nod.

The man stared at the boy that he knew since he was a small child. The usually sharp eyes that he was used to see were void and empty.

"Kudo-kun." he said. The man scanned the boy's injuries and inwardly cringed at the thought of what he and the other teens must have gone through. He quickly looked at the other boys and girls, the sinking feeling in his stomach deepening.

'Kids shouldn't be involved in this sort of things..' he thought, 'But they.. they aren't kids anymore: they have lived through so much...'

He had learned about Agents Ikeda and Kazama's past through Inspector Xanders. He knew that Matt Xanders had joined the plan because he wanted to help his friends. But...

'How did Kudo-kun get involved?' the man wondered. Even Inspector Xanders had given him vague explanations as he asked the question: the man didn't know exactly how or when Kudo had got involved. Neither which could be his relation to Miyano Shiho. The girl's involvement in the plan was unknown too. But her past... that he had heard of: he knew a lot of that.

"What are you doing here?" Shinichi asked. Despite his worries, his mind had immediately registered the fact that the Inspector shouldn't be there. Not with all the arrests, all the captives, all the interrogations that had to be done.

No, something was wrong. All his inner alarm sirens were on: something was wrong.

Megure looked at the boy and then looked away, absently rubbing the back of his neck. Shinichi's suspicions increased.

'All clear signs...' the young detective thought.

Ryu and Rei had come to Shinichi's same conclusions and were eyeing the man. Both were expecting the worst; especially after Matt's last piece of news.

"Well?" Matt pressed on. He was thinking on the same lines as the other three.

Megure fiddled with his hat, that was in his hands and clearly avoided making eye with any of the teens. Satou glanced at Takagi as though silently asking him why their senior was behaving like this. The man shrugged, looking puzzled.

Megure was carefully trying to stall for time and find the right words. He had been sent there because.. -wait, _why_ had _he_ been sent there?

Inspector Xanders had come to the police station from the hospital: he said that he had phoned to America and that was going back. He had hurried out of the door with a murderous stare on his face. Inspector Knight who had come with him explained the whole situation to the other dumbfounded Inspectors.

And Megure had been asked to go to the hospital because... he honestly hadn't figured it out yet. Probably because he knew Kudo-kun or maybe because this was his district and he had to arrest the criminals in this area.

'Whatever...' the man thought, 'Now... How exactly am I going to bring this up?' He eyed the young detective and then the other teens. Inspector Xanders had mentioned that their was a strong relationship between all of them. They wouldn't be pleased to hear his words..

'Not at all...' he thought.

After a few minutes of embarrassed silence where no one talked and just looked at the orange suit-clad man, the latter coughed lightly and looked at Shinichi.

"So.." he started, "How are you, Kudo-kun?"

"Fine." the boy replied, arching an eyebrow at the sudden and unexpected question. He eyed the Inspector carefully and noticed his appearance. "You look pretty worn out, Inspector."

The man waved a hand and put his hat back on.

"It's nothing." he replied. When he looked at the boy, he seemed to have recovered his usual professional tone and stance. "Kudo-kun, I don't if you have heard this already but Koji Koizumi, Head Leader of the Black Organisation, has been caught shortly after the raid at the Bay of Tokyo."

Shinichi nodded. Matt had told them this during the talk they had had before. "The other FBI Inspectors and Hattori-san are trying to make him talk but he isn't cooperative. Not at all."

Rei and Ryu exchanged a glance. Why was Megure telling them this all of a sudden?

"That was predictable." Shinichi stated dryly, "You honestly couldn't be thinking that he would have started to cooperate and confess all his crimes."

"No, indeed." the man agreed, "But.. he pointed out a few things that we haven't noticed before.."

Shinichi, Rei, Ryu, Matt and Kaito's attention perked up. Megure continued. "During the preliminary interrogation, Koizumi taunted us. He went on telling that no one had ever realised who he really was. How foolish we were to believe him, follow his orders even." Shinichi noticed that Megure's fists were clenched by his side and Satou and Takagi looked quite irate too. "He didn't give us any information but he pointed out that we were really pathetic if a group of teenagers manged to stop him. And not the police forces."

There was a moment of silence. The aforementioned 'group of teenagers' could feel their heartbeats increasing. Matt had told them what had happened before his father's departure but now? The reaction of the local police and of FBI... Was this the reason of Megure's arrival? Had he been sent there to deliver the chiefs' final words.

They would finally know what would be of them. Ryu felt Rei move closer to him.

Megure looked at Shinichi, Rei, Ryu and Matt. He shot a glance at Kaito too.

"I want you to answer sincerely." he started. "Everything you will say will be used for or against your case. Satou, Takagi and I will attest whatever is said here in the proper site."

Heiji's eyes widened.

'What's going on?' he thought in bewilderment. Megure was behaving as though Kudo and his friends were enlisted in a suspect list or something. Why was he behaving like this? What had happened in the hours he had left?

Lucas and Christine shared a confused look. The whole conversation was going on in Japanese and they didn't have a clue of what was going on. They did come to the conclusion that it must be something important, judging by Matt's barely-hidden angered face.

"What do you want to know?" Ryu asked calmly. If he was angry or even annoyed, he didn't show it: his poker face was equal to the one Shiho could put on at times.

Megure took a deep breath and faced the blonde young man.

"About the last year's events, have you...?" He stopped as though trying to find the best way to formulate the question. "Have you betrayed FBI to join the Organisation?"

It seemed that Megure had opted to be blunt to the fault.

Matt's eyes widened and looked ready to attack Megure. Ryu stepped in front of him to prevent him from doing any damage and looked at the Inspector.

"No." he replied, "I never did."

"You joined the Organisation though?" the man pressed on, "Unknown to any of your seniors?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you inform them immediately?"

"They wouldn't have understood. They wouldn't have allowed me to do it: they would have sent someone else. They wouldn't have understood my reasons."

Megure stared at the boy. Without another word, he looked at Rei.

"Did you feign you death using the body of suicidal?" he asked, "Making everyone believe it was your own?"

"Yes." she replied, not bothering to the stares she was getting from the people. She glanced at Ryu and he looked at her. "I had to."

Matt opened his mouth to speak but Rei stopped him with a stare. Any further explanation was unnecessary at the moment. She was going to let her friend get in trouble. Not because of her.

Megure didn't say anything again. He looked at Kaito but didn't question him. The boy merely smirked: what did he expect? He was the Phantom Thief, Kaitou Kid. No explanation was needed. The man's stare fell on Matt.

"Did you know of Ikeda and Kazama' actions?" he asked.

Rei and Ryu turned to stop him: he shouldn't... couldn't get involved in whatever was going to happen to them but Matt was thinking otherwise.

"Of course." he said, shooting Megure a crooked smile. Then, he looked at the stunned, irate faces of his friends and his eyes seemed to say - We're in this together. No matter what-.

Megure nodded slowly, slightly surprised by the boy's attitude.

"You didn't refer their intentions to your seniors? To your father?"

"No. Not immediately: I waited for Ryu and Rei to give me the permission." He looked at the man, his bright green eyes boring sharply through him, "I wouldn't have betrayed their trust."

Seeing the deep bond among the three FBI agents, Megure couldn't help but just nod again. He cast a wary look at the doors of Intensive Care.

"As for Miyano Shiho.." he started, addressing himself to no one in particular, "Is she a member of the Organisation?"

"No."

Three voices echoed throughout the room in unison. Megure looked taken aback by the the three teens firmness. So were the others in the room except for two who hid a smile.

But Megure's words lingered in the air, slowly getting into the heads of the non-MYSTERY-group. Heiji looked at Shinichi in astonishment. He had been working with.._ a member of the Organisation_ all time long? Had he gone insane?

Ran seemed to be thinking on the same lines. Miyano was a member of that Organisation. How could Shinichi be helping her? How could he..

'How can you love her, Shinichi?' she thought, looking at him. The boy felt her stare and looked back. His face was unreadable but his eyes showed an amount of pain that was nearly palpable.

Kogoroh Mouri had remained silent the whole time. Mostly because he was too tired to formulate a coherent sentence. He had accompanied Inspector Megure because it was the only way to leave the police station. He had been cooped in a room for the entire night, sitting on a hard chair without any entertainment more than the stack of files regarding the Organisation that were lying on the table, forgotten by an absent-minded policeman. All the Inspectors were busy with the interrogations and he couldn't leave the station since he didn't have a car. Buses were out of service at the time; as for a taxi... He didn't have cash.

All the money he had was in the bank, mostly because of Ran's good sense: business hadn't gone well in these months and she had said that till he got back to his former brilliance that money was untouchable.

Kogoroh was wondering _when_ he would be back to his former shape. He still hadn't figured how or when he had become so brilliant to solve all cases: he only remembered a sharp sting at his nape, a black-out and then everyone congratulating him for solving the case.

The Great Sleeping Detective.. He wondered if he was some kind of psychic that fell in a sort of trance and then didn't recall anything of what he did.

Anyway, coming to the point, Kogoroh was tired of waiting. Megure had taken him along because he had promised to drop him home and now they were just wasting time.

"Ha, liars.." he muttered after Shinichi, Rei and Ryu's answer.

He hadn't realised that the whole room had been quiet: his voice was audible to everyone.

"What?" Shinichi growled. His nerves were strained and the last thing he needed was that fool of a detective to meddle in their business.

"She is a member of the Organisation. I read her name in their database." Kogoroh said with what seemed like pride. "She's a criminal. You just have to arrest her, Inspector."

That was the last straw.

That words were enough to send to hell years of patient training to keep down their emotions. Their nerves were already too strained, their minds too full of concern and worry to accept this last blow.

"Why you, _damn_..."

If Matt, Heiji and Lucas hadn't rushed forward to stop them, Shinichi and Ryu would have torn Kogoroh limb from limb. The three boys struggled to keep the other two back.

But they didn't think of Rei. They didn't even think of her because.. the only thought of her as a menace was ridiculous. She was the calm one, the voice of reason. The quiet one that spoke honestly and tactfully. She used her strength and fighting abilities only as personal defense and extreme situations. She.. just couldn't be so... _irrational_.

Rei stepped past the five boys and headed straight towards Kogoroh. No one stopped her because it happened all very fast: everyone's attention was still focused on Shinichi and Ryu.

Her eyes were covered by her bangs, her head was low, her steps quick.

Kogoroh just caught a glimpse of her stare when she stopped in front of him and looked up. Her cobalt blue eyes were storming with rage.

The next he knew was the impact of her hand on his face and then recoiling against the wall. He groaned in pain, reaching for his cheek; the red stain of the hit was glowing brightly.

The entire room froze. Even Shinichi and Ryu had stopped trying to force their way past Matt, Lucas and Heiji and were just staring at Rei, mouths hanging open.

_Rei_ had just.. _hit_ Kogoroh?

The girl lowered her shaking hand and took a deep calming breath.

"Don't. You. _Ever. _Badmouth. Shiho." she said icily, "_You don't _know her. _You don't_ know what she has gone through."

Kogoroh mumbled something incoherent under his breath. Rei merely stared at him.

"And thank God that I got to you before Shinichi or Ryu otherwise you wouldn't have left the building with your own legs."

And with this last statement, Rei turned around; without looking up at anyone, she brushed past Ryu and Shinichi and entered Intensive Care, closing the doors behind her softly and joined Agase.

"Rei..." Ryu muttered and followed her. The doors swung open and closed again.

Matt looked at them behind the glass doors. He saw Ryu reach Rei, whisper something to her and then gently embrace her. Rei buried her face in his chest.

'This is getting ridiculous..' Matt thought, 'It can't go on like this..'

After all that had happened in the last year, despite all the events and problems, he had never seen Ryu loose his calm or Rei get even close to angry. And now..

He had to put a stop to this. They had to understand what his friends had gone through.

Matt looked at Megure and approached him.

"Have you ever heard of Hayato and Saiyuri Ikeda?" he asked him.

The man looked at him surprise.

"Ikeda?" he repeated, "Who..?"

"He was a diplomat." Shinichi said slowly, "She was a lawyer. You must have heard of them."

"They died in a car accident years ago." Heiji remarked, "I remember that: it was on the papers."

"Yes.." Takagi agreed, "I remember that accident too."

Matt smirked mirthlessly.

"It wasn't an accident." he said, "It was a murder. They were killed by the Organisation." A stunned silence followed his words. "They were asked to join it but rather than being corrupted and betray their beliefs, they refused. And that led them to their death."

Ran took in the boy's words in silence. Her eyes widened when she recalled the conversation she had had with Ikeda, Kazama and Miyano shortly before Christmas.

"Ikeda..?" she said, "They... Were they..?"

"Rei's parents." Matt replied, looking at her. "Hayato and Saiyuri Ikeda were Rei's father and mother. They died when she was twelve." He balanced himself on the crutches. "Have you ever heard of Misaki Kazama?"

"The name's familiar.." Takagi remarked, "Isn't he a scientist?"

"He _was_ a scientist." Matt put a great emphasis on the past tense. "An engineer: one of the best of his field. He had been contacted by the Organisation, too. And he refused. He lived with his family in America and one day the house was found on fire. Mr and Mrs Kazama were found dead for gun-shots, their seven year old daughter dead for smoke intoxication. Only their son survived." Matt pointed to the doors of Intensive Care. "It was Ryu. He was only twelve and he saw his family's massacre with his own eyes."

Matt looked at Megure: the man was halfway from being sick.

"_That's_ why they didn't say a word to anyone about the plan." he said in a forced calm tone, "We knew that there were spies: we couldn't take the risk. If only one of them had heard of the plan, everything would have been ruined. But, most of all, Rei and Ryu would have been killed. When our plans leaked nevertheless, Ryu disappeared after having sent us a warning note. Rei was forced to put up the suicide antic to leave America and find Ryu. It was the only way we had to keep the plan going: we were an inch from the goal. We just couldn't abandon everything. I stayed back to keep up with the events and waited for their news."

Megure nodded in understanding. Matt's eyes moved to Kogoroh who was standing up, hand still on his cheek. Rei's red hand print was glowing. The calm eyes narrowed as the man looked at him.

"As for _you_." he said, "Do you know Akemi Miyano?"

The 'great' detective stared blankly at him.

"Who?" he asked.

Matt smirked.

"Oh, yes.. You might remember this name then. Masami Hirota."

Ran gasped, remembering the young woman that was looking for her father. And that had been found dead near the harbour.

"Ha, the the perpetrator of the one billion yen robbery?" Kogoroh remarked, "The girl that killed herself rather than being caught by the police."

"She was killed." Matt corrected, "Murdered. By the Organisation. She was Shiho's sister."

"Haha!" Kogoroh exclaimed triumphantly.

Many men usually learn from their mistakes. But this one clearly didn't...

"I was right! She's a criminal! Both her and her sister!"

Matt was on the verge of hitting old Mouri with his crutches but was stopped by the voice coming from behind him.

"They are _not_ criminals."

Shinichi walked till he was standing by Matt's side. His eyes were fixed on the man that he had called for months 'Uncle' when he was Conan.

"You don't know what has happened to them." he went on, "You don't know what they had lived, how they had lived. You don't know anything about them."

"Then tell us." Megure said, stepping to the front, "Kudo-kun, I need to know who Miyano Shiho is. I need to know if she could be implied with the Organisation."

"Shiho is a chemist. Her parents were members of the Organisation and worked for them as scientists. They were killed shortly after Shiho's birth. She was separated from her sister and was forced to live following the Org's rules. When she finished her studies, since she was extraordinarily brilliant.." A proud smile tugged the corners of his mouth for an instant as he said this."..they gave her the project her parents had been working on." He paused.

The Apotoxin.

'I'll have to ask Shiho about that..' he thought, 'I can't tell anyone of it without her consent.'

He looked at the doors behind him with the corner of his eye. How was she? Was she getting better? He should be inside, by her side and not outside.

"Kudo-kun?"

Shinichi turned and saw Megure's expectant face.

'Yes..' he thought, 'Explanations first..'

"Akemi-san was an agent and she tried her best to get out of the Organisation, bringing Shiho with her as well. The Organisation had promised that the billion yen robbery would have been the last theft, the last criminal action. But.." Shinichi looked away, recalling Akemi's death with him as only witness. "When Shiho found out of Akemi-san's death, she escaped from the Organisation and came to find me. She asked for my help."  
"When did this happen?" Megure inquired.

"More or less a year ago." the boy replied and looked at the man, "Inspector, Shiho isn't a member of the Organisation. She betrayed them and they tried to kill her many times. As they tried today."

"Kudo-kun, I believe you." the police officer remarked, "But you have to be honest with me. You disappeared for more than a year and I only saw you twice during this period. You said that you were working on a case: was it this one about the Organisation?"

"Yes." Shinichi said, after a brief pause.

"And where were for all this months?"

"Inspector..."

"_Kudo-kun._"

Shinichi shot a glance at Matt who shrugged slightly and then he sighed softly.

"I was here." he said. He didn't dare to turn his head, knowing that Ran was there. "I never left Beika. I have always been here."

Megure's eyes widened as did many others' ones.

"You.. were _here_?" he asked astounded, "But... How? We would have seen you? You could have asked our help!"

Shinichi didn't reply. He could feel Ran's eyes on him. He could feel her silent accuse. He could see the hurt expression on her face. The pain in her eyes.

"The stakes were high." he replied, "It wasn't just my life to be in danger.. If I told anyone about the Organisation, that person would have been a target." He looked at Megure. "Only a few people knew about my whereabouts."

"And they are..?"

Shinichi turned to Megure.

"Is that really important now?" he asked with mild annoyance, "You said that you wanted me to be honest. Well, I am: I was here. All the time, I never moved from Beika. Test me if you want: ask me anything that happened during this year. I know all the cases that you have been investigating on, Inspector. Every single one. Shiho can do the same too: she was with for nearly the whole time I disappeared from sight." Without bothering to the man's stunned expression, he went on. "Inspector, if we are done, I'll leave. I want to see how Shiho is doing."

The boy was already turning to leave when Megure stopped him, taking by the shoulder.

"Kudo-kun." he said in a fatherly fashion, "You have to give me answers. It's the only way I have to help you, otherwise, you will be in trouble too. Kudo-kun, I can help you."

Shinichi turned to look at the man. How long had he known Megure? Years.

A small smile made it's way on his face.

"I know, Inspector." he said simply, "But.. this isn't the moment to talk. I.. I only have one thought in my mind now. Shiho. Nothing else."

This surprised Megure. He cast a quick look to Ran and then back to Shinichi.

"I swear I will tell you everything, Inspector. But not now." the boy said, ignoring the unsaid question the man was asking him, "Not now."

Shinichi headed to the doors again. He had barely touched the knob that someone grabbed his good arm. Heiji.

"Kudo." he said seriously, "What's this story? Miyano an Organisation member? Who is she really? Why are you protecting her?"

Shinichi looked at his friend.

"I didn't protect her as well as I should have.." he said sadly. Noticing the look on the Osaka teenager's face, he added, "You know her, Hattori. You have seen Shiho before."

Heiji stared at him. He had seen her? When? He would surely remember seeing that girl with such peculiar reddish blonde hair and cool light blue eyes. He hadn't met anyone like that before..

"Don't let your judgement be distorted with suppositions before having any clues." Shinichi stated, "Remember that, Hattori."

Shinichi walked through the doors, leaving Heiji with that puzzling statement. As soon as he was gone, Matt turned to Kogoroh again.

"Akemi Miyano was not a criminal." he said, "It's thanks to her that the whole plan started. She came to Ryu, asking for help; she gave us precious information. If it hadn't been for her, we wouldn't have brought the Organisation down today. I met her: she's one of the best people I have ever met." He then approached the man slowly. "And one last thing, Detective Mouri. I don't care if you are famous or whatsoever but, if you even dare to badmouth or accuse Shiho or Akemi-san or Rei or Ryu or Shinichi, be sure that you'll have trouble. You'll get yourself with so many law suits that you won't know how to get rid them."

Kogoroh stood up, momentarily forgetting his red cheek.

"Is that a threat?" he asked, fuming with rage.

Matt looked at him. Surprisingly a ironic smile appeared on his face.

"No. It's an advice." he said, "From a lawyer."

Matt walked away from the man who didn't know whether to be worried or just mad. The boy headed to the window and stood there, resting the crutches against the wall. Chris came closer.

"What exactly happened?" she whispered in bewilderment in English, "What did Detective Mouri say to make Rei that mad? I never saw her that angry!" She paused. "Coming to think of it, I've _never_ seen her angry.."

Matt looked at her. Knowing Christine, if he explained what the reason of the commotion had been, he was sure that old Mouri would go around with two hand prints on his face..

"I'll explain you another time." he replied and she looked mildly annoyed for not getting answers to her questions. He smirked slightly and looked at the doors of Intensive Care: Ryu, Shinichi and Rei were standing opposite Agase. He could still make out the girl's figure between the boys' frames. She looked so.. fragile. So delicate and gentle and yet when it came to her friends...

"Oh, and Chris?"

"What?" She turned to him.

"Remember me to never get Rei angry."

"_What?_"

"Just make me remember that in case I forgot."

Chris looked puzzled but Matt just smiled at her.

Rei had got angry because her friend had been badmouthed: she cared for Shiho enough to fight against anyone and defend her. Little, silent Rei had slapped the man that had insulted her friend and had snapped at him.

Matt smiled to himself.

If she hadn't reacted to Kogoroh's words, he wouldn't have recognised her.. Deeply inside, he knew that she would have done something and wouldn't have stayed quiet in a corner.

He knew it because..

Matt glanced at the doors of Intensive Care and saw the brunette standing next to his brother.

...because, despite their characters, they...

Rei tilted her head and met Matt's stare. He nodded at her, a small smile on his face. She smiled slightly back.

They weren't so different after all.

-

"I never left Beika. I have always been here."

His words echoed throughout her head. All thoughts that were in her mind had been erased in a second by those two sentences.

Her face didn't show her inner turmoil. She was sitting next to her father, who was still clutching his cheek though the red was slowly fading away. Kazuha was by her side and was stealing small peeks to her friend. Heiji was at her side, deep in thought. Matt, Lucas, Christine and Kaito were in the corner seats while Megure was in the corridor, standing with Takagi and Satou.

Ran just couldn't believe it.

She had waited for him to return from his... ha! long case, he said. She had been worried for him. She had cried for him. And he instead..

His absence had been painful. She was used to see him every day and his disappearance made her feel as though something was missing.

As though a part of her was missing.

His calls at the beginning had been frequent. Once a week. Then, once a month. Then, again more frequently: nearly a call every ten days. And then, again more sporadic. Until they didn't come anymore. For months.

Until the day he called and asked to meet her because he had something to tell her. Just to tell her that he was coming back.. and that he loved Miyano.

If she had been alone, Ran would have cried. But she wasn't. And the last thing she wanted was to worry her father and friends. She had to wait.

Wait till the time of answers would come.

-

Heiji stood by the door frame, lost in his thoughts. His body might be tired for the lack of sleep and the nerves but his mind was, as usual, agile and clear.

So many things had happened and most were unclear. He had spent half of his few sleeping hours to read and re-read the report Matt had brought from America and had discovered quite a bit of the background of the story that had seemed so confusing to him at the beginning. But he wouldn't be the Great Western Detective if he hadn't noticed how much was still secret. He had found all the empty spaces in the full account and was itching to fill in the blank spaces.

Question number one: Miyano.

Who was she? What was her role in the plan? And most of all, since she was a member of the Organisation, _why in God's name_ was Kudo working with her?

Number two: Ikeda and Kazama.

Both FBI agents but their records weren't clean. One had feigned a suicide, the other was labelled as a double-crosser. Were they really reliable?

Number three: Kid.

A thief. That was enough to question his presence in an FBI operation.

Number four: Kudo.

He wasn't himself. Something had happened in the last months and Heiji didn't know what it was. There was no likely explanation to the Eastern Detective's attitude. Last time they had met, at Kudo's house, the Kansai boy had noticed a slight difference in the other boy's behaviour but had shrugged it off at the moment. He was too curious to know what was going on But now..

Heiji mulled over these thoughts, trying to piece them together in a definite scheme. He wanted to know what was going on but he didn't enough clues.

_"You know her, Hattori."_

Kudo's words echoed in his head.

'I've never seen that Miyano girl.' he thought, 'Never. I'd surely remember if I had seen anywhere else before.. Then, why the hell did Kudo...?'

He looked up and caught a glance of the detective behind the glass panel: he was standing in front of Kazama and Ikeda, leaning on the wall and looking very thoughtful.

Suddenly, the young man's features wavered and Heiji nearly did a double take as he saw them being replaced with Conan Edogawa's younger traits. The black, thick-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, the red bow-tie and the little boy was there instead of the tall teen.

Heiji had known Kudo in that form not in his normal state. For him, the Great Detective of the East was the bespectacled boy that irked the hell out of him with his acting. Childish antics in front of everyone but then brilliant deductions when he was with him.

Honestly speaking, he didn't know much of the teen Kudo.

Heiji went on staring and Conan faded gradually.

Only then, when the faint image disappeared, something clicked in the Kansai detective's brain.

'Reddish blonde hair...'

The other Kudo during Ran-san's play.

'And light blue eyes..'

The one locked in the lab during the party.

Heiji's eyes widened as everything regarding the mysterious girl went together.

That girl -what was her name again? Oh, yes, Ai Haibara. She was Miyano Shiho.

She had been shrunk just like Kudo. She must have eaten that appletox-something.

'But she's a member of the Organisation!' he thought in bewilderment, 'What the damn was she doing with Kudo?'

He didn't know the answer but Heiji knew one thing for sure.

The Great Detective of East owed a grand explanation to his Western counterpart.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was all a déjà-vu.

Waiting in a hospital's corridor.

Rei leaned against the wall and sighed lightly. Saying that she was exhausted was an understatement. She was honestly surprised that she was still standing straight and had not crumpled to the ground already.

She painfully recalled her last visit to a hospital wing. That time Ryu was struggling in an operation theatre and she only had a flesh wound; this time Shiho was fighting against death while the three of them were injured.

'Why...?' she wondered, 'Why again? Why us?'

It seemed that faith was having fun playing with them as though they were pieces of a chess board..

She looked up. In front of her was another glass-paneled door. She could see Agase and Shinichi standing close to each other, eyes fixed on the glass window that separated them from the ICU room where Shiho's body had been transported after the operation.

Rei's eyes averted to the old man: Hakase's face was a mask of worry. It hurt her to see him in that state; it was so unlike his usual bubbly attitude.

Shinichi was by his side with a stony expression on his face. He hadn't spoken a word since his talk with Megure outside. When the doctors had said that only two, and no more, could be allowed in the inner room, he had followed Hakase straightforward without saying anything to her or Ryu. Not that they would have ever objected, mind you, but the fact that he was cooping his feeling wasn't good. Not at all.

He was so concerned for Shiho that nothing, _nothing_, else around him bothered him.

Rei sighed again. Lifting her hand and analysing her cast, she realised how lucky she had been. A couple of broken fingers and a few random bruises and burns were relatively little damage thinking back to what had happened to her. She recalled her face to face with Koizumi. Then the explosions, the fire and the flames. Her certitude that she was a step away from death. And then..

"Here."

Rei turned to her side with a jerk and found herself staring at a paper cup full of steaming, black liquid. She took the coffee and looked up at Ryu who leaned on the wall next to her and took a sip from his own cup.

"Any news?" he asked, peering through the panel at Agase and Shinichi.

"Nothing." she replied and brought the cup to her lips. And frowned.

Ryu's face cracked in a small smile.

"Honestly.." he remarked, "You didn't _really_ expect it to taste somehow good, did you?"

She rolled her eyes. The coffee didn't just taste bad. It was _awful_. But, somehow, the hot liquid and its load of caffeine seemed to give her a bit of strength. Thing that she was lacking at the moment. "Couldn't have added a bit of sugar, could you?" she asked, bracing herself and downing another gulp of coffee.

"If I had, you'd be drinking _sugar_ with coffee and not _coffee_ with sugar." was the reply.

They looked at each other and a small smile made its way on their faces.

Rei's stare slowly followed the bandages that covered Ryu's face, neck and chest. He had been lucky to survive too, considering what he had gone through.

Just to save her. She couldn't describe the feeling inside her. It was a mingle emotions. She was angry that he had risked his life; worried for this reckless attitude he had shown; flattered for the fact that he cared for her so much.

They just stood there for a while in silence. It was already morning and the hospital's daily activities had started again. They could hear voices and the squeaking tires of the trolleys in the distance.

"What will we do now?"

Rei turned and looked at Ryu with puzzlement.

"Come again?" she asked.

He brushed a hand through his hair, looking thoughtful. Rei noticed only then that his hair had been roughly snipped here and there. Probably because the flames had burnt his hair; her hair hadn't been burnt thanks to Ryu's jacket. The new cut gave Ryu a look that was so unlike his usual self.

"What will we do from now on?" he asked her again. "Now that.. well.. it seems that everything is really.. over." He glanced at her. "The Organisation, Rei. It's really.."

"Not yet." she interjected, "Not until they're all in jail and.." She looked at the door in front of her and then at him. "Ryu, not until she's all right."

He looked at her and smiled slightly.

"I understand." he said, "We'll wait until we're all fine. And then, we'll see what to do."

She moved closer and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you." she whispered, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You're welcome." he replied softly.

Rei realised that she didn't feel the usual heat of embarrassment attack her face as she was so close to him. In the first times, when they were still in college or when they were fresh recruits at FBI, she recalled how her heartbeats would double within seconds and how she fought the furious blushes that threatened to colour her face whenever Ryu would smile or just behave.. Ryu-like.

But now, she noticed, everything had changed. Besides the fact that they had revealed their feelings to each other, she realised that they had reached a level of understanding and mutual trust that characterised people with much more experience and common knowing each other.

But, maybe, working for nearly a year together in order to defeat the most dangerous criminal organisation, does compensate the lack of time. So much had happened and they had lived so many experiences together that it seemed as though years had passed since the beginning of their plan. And not just months.

'Who would think that only months have passed since the day I left New York?' she thought, 'Less than a year since we planned MYSTERY..'

A wave of memories flashed in her mind fast forward, images of what happened during her staying in Japan. She recalled the days she had spent working with the others, their adventures together..

A sigh escaped her lips.

Ryu looked down at her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, nudging her with his chin.

"Just thinking." she said absently.

"What about?"

"I was realising that we did a lot of things together. The four of us." She added the last bit with a hint of melancholy.

"I'm sure we'll live more moments like that." he stated reassuringly, "Shiho is strong, stronger than any of us. You said that yourself."

"I.. I just hope that I'm right." Rei ran a hand on her face. "I honestly trust Shiho. Really. I just hope that she trusts herself as much as I.. _we_ trust her."

"She will." Ryu reassured her. His hand slid down and reached hers, squeezing her fingers gently.

Rei smiled slightly, squeezing his hand in reply.

As she waited next to him, Rei felt the lump that had threatened to come up her throat since Mouri's outburst, slowly vanish.

-

Ryu stood in silence with Rei at his side.

She hadn't talked for a while. Not since she had voiced her fears regarding Shiho's well-being.

Time had passed but still no news about the reddish-blond and he really didn't know what this could mean. A vague idea crept into his mind but he immediately chased it away.

'No.' he thought firmly, 'Don't let your trust in her waver.'

Breathing a sigh, he straightened slightly and felt his muscles and bones aching painfully.

The doctors had been quite vocal in saying that he, Rei and Shinichi had to rest and stay in bed but the three of them had nonchalantly ignored them. Even though they'd be really glad to lie down and relax for a bit.

He was thinking on these lines when he noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye. A nurse came out of a nearby private ward, holding an empty plastic bag that had contained an unmistakable substance. Red, glutinous..

Blood.

A bag used for blood transfers.

As his gaze followed the nurse down the corridor. Before turning round the corner, she stopped to speak with another nurse in hushed voices.

'Again..' he mused, 'The nurses have quite a chat in here..'

Slowly, very slowly, the gears in his head moved and started to work.

They had been standing there the whole day, hadn't they?

Nobody had come in or out from Shiho's room. Except for the doctor that had told them about her critical conditions and that checked her every hour.

Then what was missing?

'What..?' he thought, 'What is missing? What is missing..?'

His mind immediately registered something that he had missed before. The doctor in charge dishevelled appearance, the nurses frequent silent conversations..

It clicked together. And he stiffened.

Rei looked up at him in confusion.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Shiho had an internal bleeding, didn't she?" he asked. His stare was fixed on the door.

"Yes." she said, eyes showing her puzzlement, "Ryu, what...?"

"Rei." Ryu looked down at her; he was extremely serious but his eyes... Rei felt a wave of panic course through her: Ryu's blue eyes were dimmed with fear.

"Rei, no one brought blood to Shiho." Ryu said in dead calm voice that barely hid his emotions, "_No_ one mentioned that she needed a blood transfer even though she definitely must need one."

Rei looked at him. The colour drained away from her face as she understood what he was implying.

"The don't have her blood group." she whispered.

"And time must be running fast." Ryu muttered with a nod. He looked around and caught sight of Dr. Shimada and a couple of nurses.

"Because they're panicking."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shinichi sat in silence, blue eyes fixed on the figure lying on the bed in front of him.

She had taken the bullet in his place.

He should be on that bed instead of her.

He should be fighting for his life, not her.

These thoughts were running through his mind at full force. He couldn't get them out of his head no matter what he did.

The sight of Shiho being shot replayed before his eyes as a slow motion video. As the hours went by, he remembered more details. And it hurt him more.

Gin's malign smile as he fired a shot before falling down..

Shiho's face as she pulled him out of the way. The firmness in her eyes that hid a sparkle of fear..

The bullet..

Blood..

Red that soaked the white of her shirt and her pale skin...

Half-closed light blue eyes that, despite the pain, openly showed trust to him..

Shinichi shut his eyes.

He didn't deserve her trust.

Not after this. He had failed. He hadn't kept his promise.

'I will protect you..' he thought bitterly, '_You_ protected me. I didn't! I just watched.'

Guilt and grief were overwhelming him. For the first time in his life, he didn't know what to do. He desperately wanted to help Shiho but didn't know how.

She was lying on the bed, completely motionless. Tubes were attached to her arms, an I.V was dangling from it's support at her left and it's tube was connected to one of the many others that were pinned at her body, the slings and medical instruments beeped and hummed around her.

Shiho was extremely pale and her whiteness highlighted her peculiar reddish-blonde strands, giving her an angelic appearance that made his heart melt.

She looked so peaceful..

He had been allowed in her room just for a short, two-minute visit. Hakase had been there before him and Shinichi had been startled to see tears shining in his eyes. Old Hakase Agase was cheeriness itself but now, he was completely another person. He cared for Shiho so much that the only thought of possibly loosing her was unbearable.

As it was for Shinichi himself.

He stood up and approached the sleeping figure.

"Shiho.." he whispered softly, brushing a strand of hair out of her face, "Wake up. Please.. wake up. We're all waiting for you. Rei, Ryu, Hakase, me. We need you... I need you. Wake up.."

He bent down, ignoring a dull ache that rolled down his body, and brushed his lips against her forehead. "I love you." he murmured in her ear before straightening up and walk to the door.

He had barely closed the door behind him, he had hardly caught full sight of Dr. Shimada coming through the other door, when an unnatural beeping filled the air. He felt a shiver run down his spine.

It was fast. Very fast.

Dr. Shimada nearly knocked the detective down on the floor as he dashed into the girl's room. He reached for the small remote-like device near the bed and pressed a button furiously. He put a hand on the girl head and began to rummage with the I.V and the tubes.

Before he even realised what was actually happening, footsteps pounded in the hall, and two nurses and another doctor appeared. One of the women placed a hand on Shinichi's arm and gently but firmly pulled him from the room. He allowed himself to be dragged away, staring uncomprehendingly about at all the chaos that had suddenly filled the room. And then he realized it, with startling clarity.

"Shiho..."

Shinichi's hand slammed against the panel as he nearly pressed his face against the glass in an attempt to see what was going on in the room. Agase was by his side.

"What's going on?" Shinichi demanded, "Hakase?" He hoped that the old professor would be able to give him an answer. He always did.

"I.. I think that Shiho-kun's vital values have changed." he replied with a wavering voice, "Again.."

The two shared a glance, silently acknowledging all the implications and praying that the girl would be fine. They turned in unison to look through the panel and didn't notice that the other door, the one behind them, had opened and closed.

--

Matt was nervous.

He was pacing up and down the room, deliberately ignoring the dark looks the other people in the room were shooting him. He always did this when he was in this particular state of mind and it somehow eased his mind; but now and the fact that he was walking with crutches didn't bring the wanted result.

He felt his nervousness build step after step.

With a sigh, Matt was going to start his nth walk across the room. He absently glanced through the glass-paneled door through which Ryu, Rei and Shinichi had disappeared more than two hours ago.

He suddenly stopped dead on his tracks, earning a couple of looks from the others but he didn't bother at all.

'What the..?' he thought.

Lucas, who was the closest, approached him.

"What's wrong?" he asked wearily. Hours of waiting added to the lack of sleep and the extremely heavy day had demolished the young American's usually energetic way of being. His black hair was unruly, his grey eyes slightly dazed and huge bags were beneath them. "Matt, what the hell is wrong now?" Oh, and Luc's temper was high: his usually clean English was heavily accented with American and this happened when he wasn't calm.

"Luc." Matt's voice was oddly calm.

"What?"

"Ryu and Rei are gone."

"What?" Lucas swung around to look at the door. Sure enough, the two Japanese agents were not standing by the wall. They were no longer in sight.

* * *

"Why didn't you tell us anything! What exactly were you waiting for, her to die?"

Shinichi's outburst must have echoed throughout the hospital. The doctor stood in silence, waiting for the teen to vent all his hatred and grief.

"If it wasn't for Ryu and Rei's guess, we wouldn't even know that you wanted to do a blood transfer!" Shinichi felt anger flowing through his body. "What the heck are you doing?"

Dr. Hideo Matsuma was a freshly graduated doctor that had been appointed to Tokyo General less than six months ago. He was still learning his job and Dr. Shimada was his mentor. And while the man was still inside the room checking the patient, he had to give her colleagues a few updates.

And he honestly didn't know how to do it. With a deep sigh, Dr Matsuma looked at the young man in front of him.

"Mr Kudo, we have spent the past hours calling every hospital in the closeness. We contacted the closest blood banks to supply us with B negative but, unfortunately, the can't seem to reach us."

"What!" Shinichi asked in bewilderment.

The man looked at him and at the other teens. Agase was inside Shiho's room with Dr. Shimada.

"I take it as you don't what going on outside, isn't it?"

Ryu and Rei shared a glance. Shinichi had a blank look on his face.

"I don't know if it's related to your.. mission, as the police calls it, but the city's blocked. The whole northern and eastern area are off-limits to any vehicle."

At this point, it all clicked together. Shinichi, Rei and Ryu looked at each other.

North and East. The Headquarter, the Bay of Tokyo, and the mansion.

FBI and the local police must be still working and had blocked all traffic to those areas. And, unfortunately, the hospital was right in the middle of the eastern part.

"Can't they send a blood supply with an ambulance?" Ryu asked, "Or a police car? An helicopter?" His voice sounded more desperate at each suggestion.

The doctor shook his head.

"We asked already. Every vehicle of the police forces is already being used. Shimada-san talked with an Inspector. -what was his name again? Hattori, I think. Anyway, he said that as soon as he could find someone free, he'd send him here."

It was Rei that voiced the fears of all.

"How much time does she have?"

Dr Matsuma looked at the girl and felt the two boys' stares on him. He sincerely didn't appreciate all this pressure..

"Miss Miyano's values are unstable. This attack had been tackled in time but wee can't guarantee for her safety in case of other attacks. A blood transfer is the only way to make her reach the right vital values. She has lost too much blood to resist another attack. Her body is too weak."

"Why didn't anyone tell us that her conditions were so desperate?" Ryu asked with a glacial tone that was a mingle of anger and concern, "We have been waiting here since we've waken up and not a person informed us. Not one bloody person."

"I can understand how you feel." Matsuma said in what should have been a calm voice. Why were they asking all these questions? He didn't know everything! After a quick thought, he opted for the standard answer. "This sort of information is to be revealed only to relatives and family members."

There was a momentarily silence.

Have you ever regretted to have said something, wished that your words would just disappear as soon as they left your mouth? Matsuma was thinking on these lines when he saw that the intensity of Shinichi, Ryu and Rei's eyes went up a few notches, reaching a dangerous degree of coldness.

Hadn't it been for Shimada's timely arrival, Matsuma would have had to worry seriously for his well being. After a curt nod to his mentor, the young man ran to a safe place.. ehm.. to another ward.

"So.." Dr. Shimada remarked, looking at the teens, oblivious to the tensed atmosphere, "Miss Miyano's conditions are stable at the moment. I had to sedate her to calm her down and the effect will last a few hours time."

"Why didn't you tell us that she needs an urgent blood transfer?" Rei asked quietly. And when the man looked at her, she silently prayed that he wouldn't repeat the other doctor's words. Matsuma had just said the truth but... it had been so painful to hear.

The four of them might not be a family in the common sense of the term but they did share a bond. And it was something that went beyond simple friendship or companionship. It was really close to.. family.

And before, the cold hard truth had hit all of them square in the face. That's why they were so ready to get angry and pounce on the young doctor.

Dr. Shimada looked at the girl with a curious stare.

"Honestly speaking, Miss Ikeda, I was waiting for the right moment." he replied, "The city's traffic block has slowed down our movements. I'm waiting for a few phone calls and sincerely hope that someone can provide us a blood supply before midday."

"Is that the time limit?" Shinichi asked, his detective's sharp ears capturing the information, "Shiho needs the transfer before noon?"

The man nodded.

"What if she doesn't receive the blood by then?"

Shimada didn't reply. Shinichi turned to Rei and her face mirrored his fearful expression.

Ryu hadn't said a word for a while but had simply taken in the information. He turned to look through the panel that divided them from Shiho.

For the second time during that long day, Ryu felt as though he had gone back in time. He found himself thinking of Françoise.

He remembered her lying on a hospital bed, covered in bandages and motionless. Doctors hovering over her trying to make her wake up. He remembered a nurse pulling him away when a loud steady beeping echoed throughout the hall. Twelve year old Ryu had asked what was wrong but the nurse just repeated in a soothing tone that it was all well.

All well, all well...

Ryu recalled the doctors faces. He could still feel their desperation: the death of a child was not something that you can easily accept.

As his stare was fixed on Shiho, Ryu found himself wondering again.

'Will I let it happen again? Will I loose a sister again without doing anything?'

And the answer, as it had been earlier when he faced the fire, was obviously one.

Without hesitations, Ryu turned to Dr. Shimada. He caught a glimpse of Rei out of the corner of his eye and knew that she knew what he wanted to do.

Because it was what she was going to do herself. And the same went for Shinichi, he was sure.

Three clear voices were heard in unison.

"Give her my blood."

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He looked around.

The room was bare with only the rickety chair where he was seated, a bed with an old mattress pushed against a corner and a small window high above his head. The iron bars couldn't allow him to see the sky clearly.

It had to be late afternoon by now. He had lost track of time in that dark hole...

He laid a hand on his knee. His crisp black suit, grey shirt and black striped tie couldn't be more out of place as now. He looked like a high placed officer waiting for a prisoner to interrogate rather than a prisoner himself.

And yet, he was the prisoner.

Not too long ago, he was close to fulfill the dream of his life. It was a hand away from his reach, he could see it, almost savour the moment when he could finally achieve it.

But a group of teenagers had destroyed more than twenty years of work and plans. All had vanished hours ago when he had left the mansion. He had hardly reached the main road that was going to lead him to the airport when his car was surrounded by several cars.

Police cars.

Only when he got out and found himself face to face with a number of men with guns pointed at him, he realised.

He had lost against them.

Koji Koizumi, chief Inspector, President of the Organisation, had lost against the rising stars cooperating with FBI. The ones that fought for justice, the same justice that he had once believed and had long left behind.

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Agase heaved a sigh of relief and sat down on the wall bench.

Dr. Shimada had just left the ward and, for the first time since he had seen him, there had been a smile on the doctor's face. And then, he said what Hakase had been so keen to here.

_"She's out of danger."_

Shiho-kun, his dear Ai-kun, was out of danger. She was not going to die. Agase felt as though he could finally breathe freely again.

From the moment he had received the call from Shinichi-kun, he had felt as though something heavy was painfully constricting his chest. The weight that had materialised on top of his heart from the moment he caught sight of the girl lying on the bed, had slowly vanished.

Dr. Shimada had been very, very unsure whether letting Ryu, Rei and Shinichi give their blood for Shiho. The three had endured as much as the reddish-blonde that day and a blood transfer would have weakened their already tired bodies.

But arguing was useless. The man's words seemed to bounce against the teens as though they were a ball bouncing against a wall: they didn't even bother to hear him. After various fruitless attempts, Shimada had to give up and allowed the teens to do the transfer. He took an equal amount of blood from Ryu and Rei but a little less from Shinichi because he had suffered blood loss too.

Agase rubbed his eyes, trying to get rid of the tiredness. It was the first time since his arrival to the hospital that he was sitting down. He put his hand and was surprised to see it moist.

His eyes were filled up with unshed tears but now that he was alone, without Shinichi-kun around, he could finally allow his emotions to have free reign.

Shiho-kun was safe.

Shinichi-kun was safe.

Rei-kun was safe.

Ryu-kun was safe.

The four teens he had tried to protect during these long months, for whom he had been anxious and worried even too much for his own sake and that he had learned to know better day by day, were all safe.

All alive.

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It burned, for an instant, and then it was all blurry.

His face swam in front of her. She tried to focus and get to see him well but it seemed that only keeping her eyes open required a great deal of energy. He was saying something but she couldn't hear well. It seemed that he was speaking from afar and choking on his own words.

Before everything turned black, she managed to get a good look of his face. He was bleeding from his head, worry etched on his features and... were those tears coming from his eyes?

She had never seen him cry. Not once.

'Are you crying for me?' she wondered.

That was Shiho's last thought before passing out.

-

It was already night again.

The first of her five senses to awaken was smell: a light scent of what seemed like antiseptics and medicines. It was a very.. clean smell.

Then, her hearing. A rhythmically steady beeping coming from her side. But also, distantly, the sound of footsteps and vehicles.

Blue eyes opened slowly and immediately puzzlement danced in them as she found herself staring at an unknown ceiling. The room where she was lying in was lit dimly by a lamp but she didn't know exactly where she was, though she did have a vague idea.

She tired to move but her body seemed to be made of lead: it was incredibly heavy. She turned her head to her sides and found herself staring at a hospital room and surrounded by medical instruments, an I.V bottle and a large plastic bag full with what seemed like blood. Tubes attached to the last two objects lead down to her wrists.

As she slowly took in her surroundings, Shiho recalled her last memories. She didn't have a clue of how much time had passed and didn't know what had happened to the others.

'Shinichi..' she wondered, 'Rei.. Ryu..'

Were they fine?

She moved her head to her left and saw Rei sitting on a chair and leaning on her bed, seemingly asleep. She was the only one in the room. Ignoring a light pang of disappointment, Shiho moved a hand in an attempt to reach down to her but couldn't. Her movement, however, seemed to alert the other girl who moved.

Rei stirred and sat up straight, stretching her neck while she opened her eyes to check on Shiho. The two girls made eye contact and stayed silent just staring at each other.

"Shiho..?" Rei whispered incredulously, eyes widening.  
"Rei..." the reddish blonde whispered, with a small, strained smile. Shiho felt her voice a bit hoarse as though she hadn't used it for a long time.

"Shiho.. oh, God! You're awake!" Rei leapt up from her chair, barely wincing as her injured hand bumped against the bed. But the happiness in her was just too much to notice. "You slept for nearly 24 hours; we were all wondering when you'd come around again!"

Rei paused and simply beamed at the other girl, feeling all sort of feelings course through her. Happiness and relief at most.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, sitting down again and taking Shiho's tube-free hand with her good hand. "You scared the hell out of us.."

Another weak smile made it's way across Shiho's face.

"I'm alive." she whispered, "I think I should be grateful of that." She looked at Rei, getting a good look of her . "What about you? The last thing I heard was that you were in the Organisation's hands and were going to be killed. You look very..-er.. patched up, to put it nicely."

Rei stared at her.

"This coming from the girl who was nearly in a comatose state.." she remarked teasingly. All the tension she had built in the past hours had just melted away. Rei felt extremely light-hearted.

"Rei.." Shiho looked at her in concern, "What happened? How is Shinichi? And Ryu?"

The girl squeezed her hand in reassurance.

"Don't worry." she said, "We're all fine. We've been dead worried for you." Suddenly, Rei jerked her head up as though a thought had just struck her and looked at the closed door behind her. "Oh, dammit..." She stood up.

"What?"

"Shinichi... Oh, Lord.. He'll murder me!"

"Why? What about him?"

Something in Shiho's tone made Rei turn and look down at her. Did she just hear a hint of...?

Rei sat down again and took Shiho's hand.

"Shinichi never left your side." she said with a smile, "He has been here on this very chair from the moment the doctor said that we could stay with you. He barely slept despite mine, Ryu's and Agase's words. At the end, we managed to convince him to go and have something to eat and drink at the hospital's cafeteria. Ryu's with him too." Rei got up and turned to the door.

"I think that the others will be eager to see you too." she stated looking at Shiho and the girl nodded slightly, her heartbeats raising in rate.

Agase, who was sitting ,or better dozing, on the wall bench, got up with a start when he saw the door room open. A look of fear was plastered on his face but it immediately eased once he saw the smile on Rei's face.

The girl looked at the man and nodded towards the door behind her.

"She's waiting for visits."

She didn't have to say this twice. Hakase bustled into the room and Rei lit the light on and discretely closed the door as soon as she heard him joyfully call Shiho "-Ai-kun!".

Rei leaned on the door and brought a hand to her face. Silent tears of relief lined her cheeks.

Shiho was awake.

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"Let's go."

"Finish to eat at least.."

"Let's _go_."

"All right, all right..."

Ryu and Shinichi left the cafeteria, leaving Kaito, who had gone along with them, finish his meal, and headed upstairs. The detective was in a rush and the engineer was trying his best to keep up with his pace but was slower because of his injuries.

They had barely reached the corridor leading to Shiho's room that Shinichi skidded to a halt, causing Ryu to nearly collide with him.

"What the hell..?" he started, looking at his friend. But the detective was just staring in front of him. Following his gaze, Ryu turned to look and saw Rei standing by the door with Kaito. They were the only ones in the waiting room; it seemed that the others had either gone home or back to the police stations. A feeling of dread coursed through his body.

Why was Rei out of the room? Hadn't they agreed that she would stay while he would have dragged Shinichi downstairs to eat something?

Unless..

Shinichi dashed forward, followed suite by Ryu. Their arrival was noticed by the others because they turned towards them. Ryu noticed that Rei's eyes were oddly bright as though she had been crying recently. The dread doubled within seconds.

"Rei!" Shinichi exclaimed, getting close to the girl, white in face, "What are you doing? What happened..?" He faced her with a terrified expression. "Shiho..?"

Ryu was looking at her with an equally worried face.

Rei turned at both and shook her head. And she smiled. A smile that melted all doubts from the two boys' faces and that made their hopes soar high.

"She woke up.." Ryu said incredulously and Rei nodded. A smile cracked the boy's features and a wave of relief washed through him. He turned to Shinichi who seemed to be stunned on the spot.

"Shiho's awake?" he whispered, his eyes lighting up immediately. Without other words, he sped forward, walked through the doors and straight to the girl's room.

Rei approached Ryu and gently rested her head against his chest; the boy wrapped an arm around her shoulders and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head, his lips brushing against her hair.

"She's alive." Rei's voice was muffled but he heard her nevertheless.

"Yes." he replied, "Thanks God.."

She nodded.

"Hey, lovebirds.."

The two immediately broke apart, a blush colouring their faces for they had immediately recognised the voice that was teasing them.

Matt was standing in front of them, leaning on his crutches and smirking mischievously.

"Didn't mean to interrupt anything.." he said as an excuse.

"You didn't." Rei replied, "Nothing was happening, right?" She turned to Ryu.

"Right." he confirmed and turned to the lawyer, "By the way, where were you?"

"Dad called." Matt remarked airily, earning the other two's full attention. "He told me a couple of things: it seems that he has talked with our chiefs but the situation is still a bit complicated.. But, don't worry." He looked at Ryu and Rei. "Whatever will happen, you guys won't have any problems. You've got most of the FBI's men at your side. Plus a lawyer." He pointed to himself.

"Thanks." Rei said, smiling.

"Yes, bro." Ryu stated, "Thanks."

Matt waved a hand, shooing away their gratitude and grinned.

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Relief?

No, more.

Happiness?

Even more than that.

Shinichi couldn't explain the feelings that were storming in him as he opened the door. Hakase had just got out of the room and had confirmed him the wonderful news.

Shiho was awake and. Alive.

He put his hand on the door knob and pushed, getting into the room. He gently closed the door behind him and approached her.

She was in the same position he had seen her last time, apparently asleep. But he was hardly a step away from the bed when her eyes opened and he found himself staring at the two sapphire orbs that could pierce through his soul and read him in and out despite their calm appearance.

"Shiho.." he said, taking her hand.

The girl looked at him. Emotions were bubbling in her body, mingling together in one single feeling that she couldn't make out.

She simply stared at him. He was injured and had been treated, judging by the bandages. He looked exhausted, black circles were ringing his eyes. His eyes were strangely bright..

"Shinichi.." she said softly, smiling slightly. With effort, she tried to sit up but he stopped her.

"Don't." he said, sitting on her bed and gently pushing her down. "You're still weak. Don't force yourself already."

"I'm fine." she said, putting a hand on his shoulder and slowly putting herself in a sitting position, or something close to it. "She looked at him. "What happened to you?"

Shinichi instinctively closed his eyes for a second as he felt her fingers brush gently against his bandages and his forehead. Her warm hand against his skin had a soothing effect that he savoured pleasurably.

When Shiho lowered her hand and looked at him, she was startled by his gaze. As she met his dark blue eyes, she saw something that hadn't been there before, an emotion that was rarely present.

Guilt.

"Shinichi.." she said, concern lacing her tone, "What...?"

Her statement was interrupted. He slowly reached forward and hugged her, giving her no time to react. A furious blush coloured her pale face as she felt his hot breath tickle her neck; Shiho hugged him back with one arm since the other was still connected to the IV tubes and the blood bag.

Shinichi didn't speak. He moved a hand up her spine, feeling the bandages beneath the hospital garment she was wearing. He stopped when he reached her hair and gently stroked her soft reddish-blonde strands.

They stayed in silence, only the rhythmical beeping of the machines echoing in the room.

"I'm sorry." Shinichi whispered against her neck, after a while, "I failed to protect you."

"What?" Shiho asked in bewilderment, pulling away and wincing as a sharp pain came from her waist. She looked Shinichi straight in the eyes. "What are you saying?"

"You risked to die. That bullet was meant to me, not you."

"How can you be so sure?" Shiho's tone was firm despite the calmness in her eyes, "It was Gin that firing. _Gin_. Remember who we're speaking of."

"That isn't the point." Shinichi retorted, his tone sounded defeated, "I should have done something! Anything! Not let you.."

He was silenced this time. By Shiho's fingertips on his lips. His gaze fell on her eyes and he found himself, once again, mesmerized by those ice blue pools.

"Shinichi, I'm fine." she whispered, smiling slightly, "You couldn't have done anything. I saw Gin point the gun at you. I saw his eyes: it was stare that I had seen so many times before. He wanted to kill. It could have been me or you: it didn't matter. One or both had to die."

She raised her hand and gently stroked his cheek.

"I.. I couldn't let him kill you." she said, her eyes softening, "I already lost my sister.. I couldn't have bared to loose you too."

Shinichi was at loss of words: it wasn't like her to express her weakness loudly. He slowly took her hand and kissed the back of it, never breaking eye contact. He smiled weakly and a trace of his usual trademark smile was visible. He still felt the weight of his guilt but seeing Shiho in front of him, smiling, awake... He couldn't bring himself to hurt her. Not again.

Not for him.

He leaned forward and kissed her.

Shiho closed her eyes, feeling the touch of his lips on hers. His soft kiss sent a thousand shivers down her spine. She kissed him back, their breaths mingling together as one.

When they broke apart, Shinichi moved forward till his forehead touched hers.

"I love you." he whispered softly, his eyes fixed on hers.

"I love you." she replied just as softly, a smile crossing her face and reaching her eyes as well.

A knock at the door a few minutes later, made them both come back to reality.

"Come in." Shinichi said while Shiho leaned against her bed stand.

The door opened and Rei, followed by Ryu, Matt and Kaito, came in. The four were all smiling. Ryu approached Shiho.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, brushing a kiss on her cheek in a brotherly fashion, "You scared the hell out of us.."

"I heard." she replied with a smile, slanting a glance at Rei who smirked. "But what about you? You look..-er..patched up just like Rei." She paused. "Maybe even worse."

"Very amusing.." Ryu remarked. "Believe me it's a long story.."

"I have time."

"All right, all right.." Matt said, walking to the foot of Shiho's bed and getting in everyone's view. "Before we start all the reminiscences, I have news to deliver." He shot a glance at Shiho. "I was waiting till you were among us to do so."

The room went quiet and the lawyer got everyone's attention.

"There's good news and bad news." he said, "I'll start with the bad ones." He paused dramatically. "I'm sorry to announce that the MYSTERY team doesn't have any reason to exist any longer. It can officially cease to exist."

Kaito stared at Matt. Rei and Ryu exchanged a confused glance as did Shiho and Shinichi. Matt went on nevertheless.

"And this because..." He paused again and looked at the other, his green eyes glittering. "The Black Organisation doesn't exist anymore."

Silence.

"Everyone got caught?" Shiho said in a incredule tone.

"Everyone." Matt confirmed and grinned, "No one was left out. We did it!"

His words lingered in air for a bit before soaking in completely.

After all that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, they had somehow forgotten _what_ had brought them to the hospital in first place.

The Organisation.

Their long work, their many sufferings had finally come to an end. They had beaten them.

The group exchanged glances and a smile appeared on their faces. A smile that broke the long hours of tension and finally showing their true emotions.

They had vanquished the Black Organisation.

They did it.

Finally.

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Ehm... Hello... -_peeks around from her hideout-_

I know that a long time has passed since the last update. I suppose that a -Sorry, guys!- wouldn't be enough. Anyway, this chapter has finally come to an end. It took me more than six months to write it down. Jeez, it took me forever.. I hope that I won't have another writing block like this again.

The next chapters should come at a faster speed, I hope. As for the other fictions.. who knows? I'll try to update them soon as well.

I'll keep my focus on 4Points at the moment.

I thank all the readers and reviewers. Really, you guys kept me wanting to write rather than abandoning. Thanks for the reviews.

As for the chapter, I think I'll re-write sooner or later... Later most probably. I think you will all notice that it's sort of jumps from a section to another. I hope that it's comprehensible though.

I'll be waiting for your opinions. Flames included..

REVIEW!

Bye!


	32. Author's note 3

Hi to everyone!

If you're wondering where the heck I've gone, don't worry. I'm still working on 4Points but I've encountered a couple of problems. Besides the haunting writer's block, I also realised much to my dismay that I sort of... er.. _forgot_ a couple of things of my previous chapters.

I know.. I'm just pathetic..

However, in order to remember, I started to reread my old chapters trying to remember the little details that I've put here and there that I need to finish the ending chapters.

As I did so, I realised that my early writing style was terrifying and that many things could have been written better.

To sum it all, I'm rereading and rewriting everything. I'm trying to do this job as fast as I can. I expect to post all the corrected chapters soon and, hopefully the second but last too.

I know that many are annoyed to hear this again but.. please, have patience and wait.

I have read the various reviews but couldn't answer to any so I'll do it briefly here.

4Points hasn't still ended. I know exactly how the story has to go on and there still is time for the end. As I said in a previous Note, the story is divided in 3 parts. The first one will end in two chapters.

Give me time.

A gigantic thank you to all the people that have read my story and that are awaiting it's development. I will do my best to write it down. In the meantime, I hope you'll appreciate the small changes and additional chapter that I will post.

I'll give a rough date for it: probably in the next weeks.

Again thanks to all, and even though it's late, happy easter to everyone.

Annitha


	33. There is only One truth A

Four points of the same star.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Detective Conan.

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

_**Chapter 2**__**9**_

_There is only One Truth (A)_

It was a cool and clear night. Ideal for a stroll.

Well, in his case for a flight.

Kaito steered the hang glider with a hand as it went slightly to the left and enjoyed the fresh air on his face. He made a mental note to thank Jii as soon as saw him for having convinced him in adding a spare glider in his suit._ "For emergencies, Young Master!"_ he had said. Smiling at the thought of his old friend, Kaito looked ahead while his thoughts went on their own.

He had left the hospital a couple of hours after Miyano had waken up. He, Kazama, Kudo, Ikeda and Matt had filled her in with all the things that had happened during her.. absence. Reliving all the events and all the narrow escapes of the day made him feel immensely glad to have come out of it with just a gash on an arm and a couple of scrapes and bruises. Only remembering the conditions of the others, especially of Miyano, made him shudder..

He had left the hospital with the promise to show up in case he was needed and to keep in touch. Kaito felt a little twinge of disappointment at the thought that the team he had belonged for months had ceased to exist. It was nice to feel part of something. Moreover to have friends who can understand your own feelings, having lived his own past.

As he flew on, his smile widened at the thought of the beautiful news.

The Organisation was defeated. His father's murderers had been arrested.

Oh, he just couldn't wait to tell Jii! The old man would probably start to cry in delight. He wished he could tell this to his mother, too. She should know the truth about her husband's death. A shadow clouded Kaito's face as he recalled his mother's face when she gave him the news of his father's death. Then, the day of the funeral. Then, the weeks later when she faked to be all right while her red, puffy eyes showed how much she still cried unknowingly to him.

Kaito himself spent a great time dealing with his grief. The urge to cry and scream out his frustration was high but his father's words echoed in his head.

_"No matter what, Kaito, always keep a good Poker Face."_

And that's what Kaito did. He kept that Poker Face plastered on his face, hiding his grief with a charming smile. For his mother's sake. For his father's memory.

Kaito sighed and shook his head in attempt to get rid of these thoughts. He didn't have to think of those sad memories. This was a moment of celebration. With this in his mind, he gripped the handle of the hang-glider and steered it to his house.

Ten minutes later, he was at home. He landed on the balcony of his room and closed the hang-glider behind his back. By habit, he slowly opened his window, careful not to make noise.

'Mom's not at home.' he realised as soon as he was inside. He nearly laughed out loud for his attitude. He was so used to be Kid with his mother home that he behaved in the same way even when she wasn't in the house. He was going to remove his cape when he caught a glimpse of his reflection on the window panel.

Kaitou Kid was wearing his white suit with the long white mantle and top hat. His monocle, complete with his trademark triangle charm swinging from the chain adorned his eye. But the effects of the battle were still visible on him. His suit was stained with blood drops and dirt, his sleeve was torn and at the height of his bicep. There were stains of dry blood every here and there on the length of his arm.

He hadn't had time to think of getting something clean to wear. Coming to think of it, he hadn't

even _thought_ to change, not with all the things that were happening. He had only thought of changing his appearance a bit so that he wouldn't have been recognised. But he had immediately changed to his suit as he turned to leave.

Kaito slowly moved his arm and winced as the wound brushed against the bandages. He had to find a way to hide this injury till it healed. He couldn't let his mother or anyone else notice it; otherwise there would be too many questions to answer and even he, Kaito Kuroba alias Kaitou Kid, would have a hard time finding the answers.

'Speaking of Mom..' he thought, 'I'll have to go down to Aoko's place and bring her home. Yeah.. but what will I tell her? She will surely ask where I've been and what has happened..'

Kaito sighed, brushing his face with his hand and tipping his hat slightly to a side.

"Should I tell her the truth?" he whispered to himself. He turned to the wall and faced the poster picturing his father during a magic show. "What must I do, Da..?"

A sudden sound made him freeze.

A step.

Someone was there.

He swiftly turned around, hand in a pocket, fingering the card-shooting gun and ready to face his opponent. A light wind entered in the room, making the curtains sway behind him and allowing the rays of the full moon to get inside, lighting the room.

And Kaito saw her.

The blood chilled in his veins and all thoughts just fled from his head, leaving him unable to think.

His mother.

But it was only a mere second.

The moment later he was no longer Kaito Kuroba, the seventeen year old high-school student but Kaitou Kid, the Phantom Thief.

Kasumi Kuroba stepped into the moonlit room and stared at the young man in front of her.

He stood there motionless. One hand in his pocket, the other hand straightened the top hat and stayed there, covering half of his face. The cape fluttered behind him for the light wind, the thin chain swayed making the clover charm hover in air. He looked completely fearless and calm. An enigmatic smile was on his face as he stared back.

She couldn't know that this was just an act.

Kaito's heart was beating so fast that he was surprised that the sound didn't echo throughout the room. He faced his mother, praying that the poor light, the hat, the monocle and his hand wouldn't let her recognise him.

'Poker Face. Poker Face. Poker Face..' he kept repeating the mantra in his mind, 'Keep the Poker Face. Poker Face..'

_"Kaito."_

The mantra vanished the moment he heard his name. It took all his will power not to react in any way. Beneath Kid's poker face, Kaito was stunned; did she know? How? He had been so careful.. but when he left her at Aoko's house. He heard her words replay in his head.

_"Be careful, Kaito. Don't underestimate your enemies and don't do the mistake to overestimate your tricks." _

Realisation hit him like a punch at the stomach.

_She knew._

Silence reigned in the room. Kaito knew that he couldn't speak. This was his mother. _His mother_. She would recognise him the moment he opened his mouth.

But he had to do something.

Clearing his voice as lightly as he could so that she couldn't hear him well, he looked up. The enigmatic smile was still on his face.

"My dear lady, I am sorry." he said in a barely audible tone, dropping his voice down a few octaves and adding an accent to confuse her. "I assume that you are mistaking me for someone else."

Kasumi looked at him and her features softened.

"I know it's you." she remarked, approaching him, "Kaito.."

The boy was frozen on the spot. He just watched as she reached out for him and gently caressed his cheek. Her eyes scanned his face and his body; the small gasps showing that she noticed the blood.

Kaito's mask creaked.

His mother's touch. The gentle caresses, the warm hugs and the loving kisses that had brought him up during his childhood and that still were present in every single day of his life. His mother had poured all her love on him; she had given him everything he needed, compensating in someway the absence of a fatherly figure. He had been lying to his mother for all this time.

The creaks on the Poker Face increased.

Mrs. Kuroba stayed still, cupping the boy's cheek and looking straight in his eyes. Her own eyes welled with tears as she bore in those dark blue eyes that her son had inherited from his father. The eyes that she knew so well..

"Kaito.." A tear slid down her face.

It was the last straw for Kaito. His Poker Face broke in two and a piece fell to the floor, revealing the boy hidden beneath.

"Mom..." he whispered hoarsely. He couldn't bear to see her cry.

His mother hugged him. Kaito hugged her back; the hat fell to the floor with a soft, soundless thump. He barely felt the pain at his arm but just the lump in his throat, the raw emotion that was threatening to come up.

He couldn't cry.

No, he had sworn not to cry anymore the day of his father's burial. He would have been strong. He would have cheered his mother whenever she was sad. He would be her rock.

"I always knew.." Mrs. Kuroba whispered, stepping back and looking at him, "I knew that it was you. Just like your father."

Kaito stared at her.

'She knew that Dad was Kid?' he thought in astonishment, 'She knew all the time? Or.. did he tell her? Of course.. Dad trusted Mom. He must have told her everything..' He looked at his mother and felt something twinge inside. 'I didn't trust her..'

Kaito was about to say something. Anything that could, in someway, explain his behaviour but a sound coming from the door made him look up. His stare wandered past his mother and he caught sight of a shadow by the door frame. A ray of moonlight pierced its way through the room and he finally saw who was there.

Kaito felt his heart fall to the ground and crash into a thousand pieces.

Cerulean eyes stared back at him with a watery expression but he could also see sorrow, hurt and... pity? He had never seen that emotion on her face. Not for him.

Aoko Nakamori stepped into the room and looked at her best friend. The monocle was still on his eyes, the clover charm dangling from it; the white cape was fluttering behind his back; the white suit he was wearing was shining in the moonlight.

Kaito was Kid. Kid was Kaito. _Her_ Kaito.

This last thought was the only one in her mind as she rushed forward and threw her arms around the neck of the petrified boy in front of her.

The Poker Face shattered as a tear made it's way down his cheek.

"Aoko.." Kaito whispered, "I..." The words just didn't want to come out.

"You should have told me!" she sobbed in his chest, "I never thought..! Couldn't even imagine..!" She broke the embrace and looked at him, tears streaking her cheeks. "If your mother hadn't been so worried, I would have never known.."

Kaito automatically turned around. His mother smiled at him through tearful eyes.

"I told her what I knew because I knew that something must have happened." she said, "When you received that call yesterday, I saw you change. Your face changed: you were so serious. Like Toichi before.. that heist..." Kaito felt himself tense as his father was mentioned. "Kaito, you're not alone. You can trust me.. and Aoko-chan."

Kaito stayed still, unable to speak or even think. Slowly his brain began to work and reality sank in. He turned to look at the two women that were the most important people in his life. He caught a glimpse of his father's picture.

And suddenly, he knew what to do.

Kaito smiled his trademark smile and looked at them.

"I'll tell you everything."

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The following weeks were hectic.

Shinichi, Shiho, Rei and Ryu spent many days in hospital going through numerous tests to check their conditions. Shinichi and Ryu left the hospital first while the girls stayed there for more check-ups. The two boys visited the girls everyday becoming quite known in the wards. Actually, they were well known even during their staying as patients because they were never in the room they shared but always in the room Rei and Shiho divided. The nurses had long lost hopes that the two boys would even learn the meaning of -_go and rest_. It became a common sight in the wards to see a white-haired nurse drag either Ryu or Shinichi or both back to his room, threatening to tie him up.

Rei and Shiho on the other hand didn't know whether to be flattered, amused or just embarrassed...

Anyway, besides the boys, the girls received many visits from their friends and a few partners of work. Hakase spent every free moment he had with them, bringing them what they needed, whenever Ryu and Shinichi forgot it, and was glad to see them bettering. Matt, Chris and Luc showed up every now and then along with Ryu or Shinichi since they were residing at the Kudo mansion. Takagi and Satou would come to see the girls once in a while too.

However, the main reason for the police's presence in the hospital was to keep the press away.

The fall of the Organisation, the massive number of arrests and the names of certain of the arrested was just too much of information. It somehow leaked out and reached the press.

And the newspapers had a field day.

For a couple of weeks or so, the front pages of many of the most prominent newspapers had the face of Koji Koizumi printed along with the photos of the Organisation's other leaders. Pages and pages told about the Organisation's activities and the world knew to what extent one group of evil people could go. Especially if guided by a cunning and equally evil leader.

The truth behind many unsolved cases were finally revealed. Victims' relatives could mourn their loved ones knowing that they were innocent and had had the misfortune to meet or cross lines with the worst of criminals. On the other hand, many that were considered honest, were arrested for criminal activities that they had perpetuated in the shadows or under false identities.

Names were revealed. In the Bad side but also on the Good side.

To put it clear, Ryu, Rei, Matt, Shiho and Shinichi found their names and pictures on the newspapers along with the names and photos of the Inspectors that helped capture the Organisation's members. Kid was mentioned quite a few times as well; the reporters just couldn't resist to add the fact the Internationally Wanted thief had cooperated in the massive capture and aided the police forces. It was the detail that captured the readers' attention... and added another charm to the already idolised phantom thief that saw the number of girls belonging to his fan club double in a week's time. Much to Kaito's amusement and to Inspector Nakamori, Hakuba and Aoko's, _especially_ Aoko's, annoyance. The girl had more than once threatened him to reveal his identity to her father, despite her promise to keep the secret. This would usually solemn the gloating boy and make the girl quite satisfied.

How did the names of the ex-MYSTERY team come out, you may ask.

Put a curious reporter, a talkative nurse and a policeman who hat had gone to have lunch break a bit earlier together and you'll get your answer...

The papers began to dig into the teenagers' past and old stories surfaced back.

Rei and Ryu's pasts were exposed to public notice. Shiho's background with the Organisation was revealed. The plan to destroy the Organisation was written in details and the role of each member of the team was known. People wanted to know the truth so the authorities found themselves in the situation to reveal rather than hide. All the things that weren't strictly reserved were exposed. The APTX4869, for example, was a secret revealed only to the highest police chiefs. And the role of a certain Conan Edogawa and a certain Ai Haibara was unknown to most.

Judgements were made along with critiques and protests since many pieces of the big, _enormous_ puzzle that was the MYSTERY plan were missing and many didn't know everything.

But that's the world, isn't it? One minute you're a hero because you saved the world but if you make a mistake you're no more than nothing.

And that's what happened to the MYSTERY team.

Rei's suicide antique was questioned. Ryu's role as infiltrated agent was found suspicious. Kaito.. Kid's involvement was considered out of place since he was a thief. And, of course, Shiho..

Shiho's link with the Organisation was the point that was most speculated of. Many thought that once a member of the Black Organisation, you're one forever and there was no redeeming. Few believed that she was on the Good side despite the efforts of Inspector Xanders, Matt and other FBI members.

It was always like that. People just couldn't see that you can change, if you really want to do so.

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Shinichi was lying on his bed, staring at the blank ceiling. It was one of those precious moments of silence and calm that he had begun to taste again now that everything was over.

He stayed there immobile and found himself thinking of the past events.

The plan that they had worked together, the assault that had been thought in all details, the downfall and victory that had been shadowed by the casualties and, especially, Shiho's conditions and, at last, the trials. The final, definitive victory.

'The trials..' he thought, 'Good thing the papers were kept out of it.'

He had attended the trials a couple of weeks ago but the scenario was still vivid in his mind.

The large and immaculate court room. The high windows that filled the room with light. The long wooden benches that took most of the space of the room. The sombre-looking police officers seated on a series of chairs at the very left. The thin iron-bronze fence that divided the public from the lawyers' location: two long iron tables with a set of simple chairs. And in the middle, in full view of everyone, the massive wood table. And behind it, sitting on elegant throne-like chairs, there were the three judges, adorned in their official, militar outfits.

He had been allowed to attend the trial along with Agase and his parents: they were the only civilians in the room. The other people that were in the court room were mainly policemen and FBI agents. He still recalled the burning feeling full of anticipation and nervousness running through his veins while he walked down the aisle towards the first bench and sat down right behind the table where his friends were. Rei, Ryu and Shiho, still wrapped with bandages since not all the wounds had healed, sat silently next to their lawyers, listening to the trial.

The trials weren't only reserved for the Organisation's members. Ryu, Rei and Shiho had to be judged too. Unlike Shinichi, who had been glorified as some kind of hero, and Matt, whose role in the operation had been immediately cleared thanks to the connection to his father and his own role in the mission, the others had to fight once again. This time not against men dressed in black and brandishing weapons but against the people of their same side. People that couldn't see their innocence and honesty but just saw their flaws and mistakes.

Matt, after having animatedly protested his chiefs' decisions, decided to take the situation in his hands. This was his subject. He would be in the first line this time, defending the others.

He set to work immediately. He asked Shinichi to let him stay at his place for a while and began the massive work of collecting all the evidences that showed his friends unmistakable innocence. He wasn't alone though. He had gone seeking for help and trustful people answered eagerly.

Shiro Ayase, Rei's guardian, flew the whole way back to Japan to help him. After having seen Rei and granting himself that she was safe and sound, he began to help the younger lawyer in his work. The Kudos came back to their hometown too. Yusaku and Yukiko took charge of all the expenses that the trial might cause, despite the protests from Ryu, Rei and Shiho.

Shinichi had been glad to see that his parents had decided to help his friends so much and barely protested when his mother gave him an earful on being irresponsible, insensible to her concern and for not having called her when he had been injured. Rei had to endure the same lecture shortly after, though in a slightly milder tone..

The first obstacle that Matt encountered was Kid.

Kaito, who had to be judged just as much as Ryu, Rei and Shiho, had merely laughed when Matt called him on the phone asking him to attend the trial to prove his innocence. And when the bewildered lawyer asked him, without mid terms, what the hell was so funny about the situation, the magician gave him the most simple of answers.

"I am Phantom Thief, Kaitou Kid. Do you _really_ think that a whole bunch of agents would let _me_ leave if I entered a court room?"

Admitting that he had a point, Matt decided to work on his defense without his presence. And he and Ayase-san set to work together.

And then, the trials came.

Shinichi yawned and got up, stretching slightly. He took of the wrinkled shirt he wore and slipped on a blue sweatshirt. He left his room and headed to the bathroom. He caught a glimpse of his appearance on the bathroom mirror. The wound on his arm had healed without leaving traces but he still wore a light bandage around his head. The hit had been stronger than he had though and the cut was deep. The doctors had told him that it would probably leave a scar. Barely visible through his dark strands but still there.

'A remembrance of Akai..' he mused mirthlessly, 'And that makes two scars from the Organisation.'

His hand reached for the back of his head, fingering the spot where Gin had nearly split his head in two with a metal bar.

He went downstairs, careful not to make noise since Shiho was in her room, resting. She had attended the trial despite her weak conditions and still had to recover completely. Her wounds had healed partially and she had been forced to go around in a wheelchair to lessen her fatigue. Only in the past days, the doctors had agreed to allow her to walk with the crutches.

Shinichi stopped halfway down the staircase and looked up.

He had managed to convince her to rest after lunch despite her reluctance. He wished that Ryu and Rei were there too; in three, she could have been easily convinced...

As he walked to the kitchen for a glass of water, his thought drifted on their own.

The trial had taken many, many days.

Every high agent of the Organisation was brought in front of the judge and the jury. Akai, Vodka, Vermouth, Gin.. And others that Shinichi hadn't heard of or seen. But the names didn't matter. The list of crimes was enough to chill one's blood in the veins.

When Chris Vineyard had walked past him, Shinichi saw her look in his direction and for the smallest of seconds, her stare lingered on his mother and some sort of emotion flickered in those ice blue eyes. But it was just an instant. Yukiko didn't react to her look in anyway but Shinichi did notice that his mother reached for his father's hand and that he squeezed it tightly and never let go.

When Gin entered the room, Shinichi felt something bubble in the pit of his stomach and fought the mad desire to jump past the iron fence and hit the man. He saw Shiho's shoulders tense as he walked past them, escorted by three policemen.

But the ace of the card pack was him. Koji Koizumi.

Shinichi didn't know what his friends were feeling but he could clearly see what the agents in room did. Their expressions showed pure hatred and loathing towards a man that most of them had trusted and had obeyed to as their chief. But knowing what his mind had created had showed them where his loyalties lied.

He cared only of himself.

Koizumi didn't debate. He simply answered to the questions in a colourless tone and admitted all the crimes that he was proved to be guilty of doing. But over anything, Shinichi couldn't forget his stare: the one he had on his face when he was escorted out of the court room.

He shot a glance at his side and looked at him with the most vengeful expression he had ever seen. But it wasn't directed only at him. By the looks that Rei, Ryu and Matt traded and the glance that Shiho slanted at him, Shinichi knew that Koizumi had promised them that he would get his revenge whenever he would have the chance to do so. That stare was his way to tell them this.

It was a vow of revenge.

The jury reached an agreement immediately and the sentence was clear.

Life long prison for the leaders and all the high agents. Convictions that went from thirty to twenty-five years for the other lower ranked members.

Ryu, Rei and Shiho were cleared from all charges and their role in the whole plan was finally acknowledged.

Shinichi had cheered. Along with Matt and Agase, Ryu and Rei and Shiho. Along with all the agents in the court room.

It was over.

Shinichi put the glass of water in the sink and looked out the window. A car drove past his house and a couple of children walked by.

'And now..?' he thought, 'What will happen? What will it be of all of us?'

It was the question that had been popping in his mind for the past weeks, ever since he left the hospital. From the moment the trial was over, he kept wondering..

What will happen to them?

Would everything change now that they didn't have a common goal? Would they all just split and each walk on a different path?

Shinichi sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

Rei and Ryu had left with Matt and had gone back to America. They had to deal a few matters with FBI and clear their names as agents. The two had promised to come back soon but.. it was strange to be just two in the house, just him and Shiho. Not that he minded being alone with Shiho.. but..

It was just strange.

With another sigh, Shinichi left the kitchen. He was going to go back to his room when the sound of voices coming from outside made him stop. He recognised a few voices; in particular, a certain accented male voice that made him go into the living room and peek through the window that gave to the front gate. A small crowd of people was standing out there.

Shinichi smiled ever so lightly but immediately sobered.

He had been waiting for their arrival.

--

"Come in, come in..."

Shinichi ushered his guests into the living room. After a moment of embarrassed silence, the group spread out and took seats. The large room looked suddenly very small with all the people that were in there.

Ran and Kazuha sat on the couch; Heiji eyed Shinichi for an instant and sat down next to his childhood friend. Detective Satou sat on an armchair while Takagi took a chair. Everyone turned to Shinichi, who was standing by the door, looking mildly amused.

"I honestly didn't expect this." he stated, approaching them and sitting on the remaining armchair, "I knew that you'd come but.. honestly, not _all_ together."

"Never mind that." Heiji snapped, clearly annoyed. He jerked a finger out to the window, "What's the meaning of that?"

"That?" Shinichi asked, turning to his side. He turned to face his friend, "What about the curtains?"

"Not the curtains. That man! The policeman outside! He didn't want to let us in!"

"Oh, the guard.." Shinichi smirked, "One of Matt's ideas. A good one actually."

"Why do you need a guard?" Takagi asked, "I thought that all the men of the Organisation had been captured? Does he think that..?"  
"No, no." the young detective waved a hand airily, "Nothing like that. We're quite sure that all the Organisation's members are in jail. We need a guard for the reporters and to keep away the curious people. We were assaulted for a couple of days with letters, telephone calls and people knocking at the door wanting to know more. We had to do something because Hakase couldn't tackle all those people on his own and the four of us couldn't do much either since we had been just dismissed from the hospital. The guard will leave in another couple of days, once Rei and Ryu will be back."

"Agents Ikeda and Kazama are not here?" Satou asked.

"No, they went back to the States with FBI. They had to deal with a series of... matters."

A full-blown silence followed his statement. Shinichi had said it.

They were all here to deal matters.

They all wanted answers.

And he had to give them what they asked for.

He had already talked with Inspector Megure after the trials. He had told him everything, along with Shiho, Rei and Ryu. Saying that the man was astounded was an understatement but he had accepted it. He had patted Shinichi's back when they bid goodbye and had murmured a soft -_thank you for the help you gave us_- before leaving in his car. He supposed that Satou and Takagi were there now because Megure had thought that he should decide to whom tell the truth or not. The man had given the boy a great display of loyalty.

Heiji had called him hardly a week ago, saying that he wanted to speak to him about the past events. Shinichi had said that he waited for his visit the coming week. The Osaka teen wasn't too happy because he wanted immediate answers.

As for Ran, Shinichi called her himself. He wanted to talk to her privately and explain what he did during his absence. He felt that he owed her a full explanation if he wanted to hope to keep their childhood friendship. He knew that he had to explain her why he did most of the things he did. And most of all, why he kept her out.

But, unfortunately, Ran couldn't come. Although maybe, he thought, she didn't want to come.

Shinichi's eyes averted to the long-haired girl sitting on the couch. She was looking at him with an oddly detached and serious look. He had seen that look before.

It was the one she had whenever she suspected him. The look she had when she thought that Conan was a little too smart. A little too adult-like. A little too similar to him, Shinichi.

Every time, he had managed to convince her that she was wrong. He always came up with a different plan either on his own or with Hakase's or Ai's help.

'You guessed right, Ran..' he thought, 'From the start..'

He looked around and was greeted by questioning stares.

He had to start.

'It shouldn't be difficult after all..' he thought, clearing his voice, 'It's just like when you solve a case. Expose all the clues and details.. and reveal the truth.'

"I will ask you only one thing." He scanned the room, sitting up straight, "Please, whatever will be said here must not leave this room."

He received firm nods from Satou and Takagi. Heiji did the same. Kazuha looked slightly confused but nodded nevertheless. Ran stared at him and only after a few moments, she nodded.

"Thanks." the young detective said, "I knew that you would understand. What I'm going to tell you involves all of us... it's not just me.."

Ran eyed Shinichi.

He kept repeating it over and over again.

We... us...

It was not -me and the others, but.. us. One word for all. A solid union.

She thought about the boy that she had befriended years ago and had grown up with. Shinichi had always been intelligent and rather independent. He was also stubborn and maybe a bit too knowing for his own good.

'But he...' she thought, 'He was always gentle and caring..'

As he grew up, Shinichi's sharpness grew with his wisdom but also with his arrogance. He knew that he was intelligent and wanted to show it. Often in those days, Ran wondered what happened to the sweet little boy she knew. But, once in while, the tenderness and sweetness hidden inside him would surface and Shinichi would surprise her.

But now.. Now, she barely recognised the young man in front of her. What happened to all his ego? What happened to the restless teaser that she had to endure for all her childhood and that she had always loved? Who was this calm, serious, too serious, man?

Shinichi glanced at Ran, feeling her stare and she immediately averted her gaze. He lingered on her for a moment before looking at the others.

"So..." he started, "I'll start from the very beginning.

Everything started with Ryu and Matt nearly.. two years ago. They had both entered FBI straight after college and were trying to find information about the murderer of Ryu' family." He paused. "I don't think that I have tell you anything more about Ryu's past: the papers have given even too much information, in my opinion.

Anyway, one day, Ryu received a message from a woman, Akemi Miyano, who asked to speak with him and he agreed to do so. They met and despite his initial uncertainty, Ryu began to trust her because Akemi-san knew things of his past. She confided him about the existence of a big underground criminal group involved in all kinds of crimes: thefts, receiving of stolen properties, corruption, murders. The only way to recognize them was the colour of their clothing. Black."

"The Organisation.." Takagi muttered audibly.

"Yes.." Shinichi remarked, "Ryu, who had seen his parent's murderer, connected him to the Organisation and wanted to know more. Akemi-san gave all the information she knew but unfortunately they weren't much; she knew that there were many double crossers, corrupted agents but didn't have any name to tell him. Ryu decided to set to work and began to collect information along with Matt. But it still wasn't enough: the amount of information they gathered wasn't what they looked for. They needed something more and so they decided to take the risk.

Ryu infiltrated in the Organisation and began to steal information and bring it out to Matt. They worked in this way for weeks but, again, they crossed an obstacle. The files that they had were getting too complicated to read and most were written in a cryptic code. It was at this point that they decided to include another person in their team: Rei.

She had entered FBI after college too and was a trusted friend. Her help was very precious to them; her knowledge of cryptography made them gain more details about the Organisation.

Many months passed and they were working steadily. They gathered more and more information regarding the Organisation; many old cases that had been closed were re-opened and.. Ryu and Rei found out the truth about their pasts."

Shinichi paused again. An eerie silence greeted his words: everyone was engrossed by his story.

"It was all going well. None of them thought that the Organisation might know what they were doing; even less, they could immagine that some of the men in black had infiltrated in FBI as well.

One day, Ryu vanished, leaving nothing but a note to Rei and Matt telling them that they had been discovered and that they were all in danger. Matt advised Rei to hide till they knew how their situation was going to develop. Hoping that it was going to get better.

But it didn't. Things just got worse and worse.

Ryu was suspected to be a traitor, Rei and Matt to be in collusion with him and double-crossers themselves. Rei and Matt didn't have the slightest idea of where Ryu was; if he was fine.. even alive.. while the Organisation knew that Rei was involved with Ryu.

That's why Rei had to put up the stunt of her suicide. It gave her time to find Ryu and also to be safe from the Organisation for a bit of time. Matt and his father helped her in this. I know that it's illegal." Shinichi turned to Heiji as he said this. The boy had opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water since the other boy answered his unsaid question. "But she didn't have any other choice. She didn't have time to think of something else."

No longer he had said this, Shinichi's thoughts wandered back to a couple of months ago when Rei had appeared at Hakase's house. He remembered the feeling of relief that he had felt since she was alive and not dead as he had thought for the previous couple of weeks. The feeling had been slowly replaced by anger when she told him that it had been an act.

'And now, I'm here telling the others to understand her..' he mused, 'While I didn't understand her myself..'

He inwardly thought of how fast his opinion had changed with time.

"But didn't she tell anyone that it was just an act?"

Shinichi's attention turned to Kazuha who looked quite surprised to have asked a question.

"No, Toyama-san." he said, "She didn't tell anyone but Matt, his father and her guardian. I didn't know anything and neither di my parents. We were all worried for her and had nearly come to the conclusion that she had really died."

Another moment of silence greeted his words.

"Anyway, Rei managed to find Ryu's name on the passengers' list of a flight heading to Japan and she came here too. After a couple of weeks of hiding and when she was sure that the news of her suicide was widely known, she came to find me."

Shinichi stopped knowing that he had come to the point where he must give lots and lots of explanations. He saw Heiji looking at him with a look of understanding and nodded ever so lightly.

"Where have you been for the last year, Kudo-kun?" Takagi finally asked, "You said that you never left but I didn't see you if not once or twice. _Where_ have you been?"

The question lingered in air for a moment. All heads turned towards the boy but he looked down at the floor, trying to find the words to start.

Finally, he stood up.

"Just give me a minute." he said, "I have to take something."

Without further explanations, he left the room and went upstairs. Careful not to make a sound, he headed to his room and opened a drawer in his desk and took out two items that he had carefully left inside. Two reminders of the past.

"Hello, my friend.." Shinichi whispered softly, "You will come back for a while.."

He put them in his sweat shirt's pockets and walked out of his room. He casually turned to look at the door next to his. It was still closed and no sounds came out of it.

'She must be still asleep..' he thought and smiled slightly, glad that she had followed his advise for once. And he went back downstairs.

As he entered the room, he saw all his guests looking tense as though awaiting some startling news.

'You have no idea of what I'm going to tell you..' he thought. He didn't feel ready yet, so he thought of a diversion till his nerves settled down.

"I think I've forgotten my manners." he said, apologetically, "Do you want something to drink?"

A few murmured yes reached him and he left to get something in the kitchen.

"Hey, Kudo."

Shinichi looked up over the fridge's door that he had opened to see if he had any soft drinks left and met the stern gaze of the Western Detective.

"Hattori." he said, straightening up.

"What are you going to do?" the teen asked without mid terms.

Knowing what was the subject of the question, Shinichi turned and put a kettle on the stove.

"Say the truth." he replied without turning around.

"Everything?" the Osaka teen asked.

"Everything." This time the eastern detective was facing him.

Heiji's eyes lingered on Shinichi.

"What about...?" he started to say but he was hastily interrupted.

"Ran will understand." Shinichi remarked, "She must understand."

"Kudo, you do know that she will probably hate you for the rest of her life? At the very least?"

Shinichi looked at the other boy.

"Not more than she already dislikes me." he said with a sad smile, "I lied and hurt her. I can't expect anything less from her."

Heiji digested his words and watched him put glasses on a tray along with a bottle of Coke. The two boys stayed in silence for a couple of minutes. Only when the kettle whistled and Shinichi switched the stove off, Heiji came up with another question that had been nagging him in the past weeks.

"Did you and Ran-san break up?" he asked, feeling slightly awkward to discuss these kind of things with Kudo but he had noticed the looks Ran-san had shot him. He had also had to endure many annoying dialogues with Kazuha on the subject.

"We were never a couple, Hattori." Shinichi replied as he put the tea leaves into the kettle and took out some cups from the cupboard.

"You know what I mean.."

"We.. Ran and I talked and... decided to be friends." Shinichi was pouring the tea in the cups but Heiji noticed that his tone was slightly wavering. "_I_ hope we'll still be friends."

"Does that Miyano girl have something to do with this?"

Shinichi looked up, hearing the hint of anger in Heiji's tone. He knew that the Osaka teen was very fond of Ran and he knew that he hated to see her suffer. Shinichi still remembered the times when he would coax him to reveal Ran the truth about his conditions. Like that time at the hospital after he had been shot.

"Hattori..." he said in a should-be calming tone.

"Who is she?" Heiji demanded, cutting through his sentence, "She's in the Organisation, right? What does she have to do with you?"

"She _was_ in the Organisation." Shinichi tone was like ice and this surprised Heiji who fell silent. "As for our relationship.. it's something that I can't explain so easily..."

Heiji wasn't going to let away so easily though.

"Then, tell me this." The Western Detective approached his detective friend rather menacingly. "Why, _why_ on earth, Kudo, didn't you tell me that she was like you?"

Shinichi stared at him but he was spared to answer thanks to Detective Satou's arrival at the kitchen's door.

"I wondered if you needed a hand.." she explained, eyeing the two boys who walked away from each other, "To bring everything."

"Thanks, Satou-san." Shinichi said, with a small smile, "Why don't you take the tray? Hattori, take the cups and tea on this tray. I'll bring something to eat."

Hattori mumbled something that sounded to Shinichi as a menace saying that had not finished yet and left with the heavy tray. Satou looked at him and then at Shinichi and left with her tray. Shinichi sighed and fished a packet of biscuits from the pantry and poured some on a plate and left himself. He entered the living room and found people helping themselves on the drinks and left the plate on the table as well and sat back on his seat.

He waited a few minutes and only when everything went quiet again, he spoke again.

"As I said at the hospital, I never left Tokyo." he said slowly, "I stayed here, hiding... if we can say so." He passed a hand through his hair. "I think that I should start from the beginning.. I got involved with the Organisation nearly a year and a half ago." Shinichi took a deep breath and turned to his side. "Ran?"

The girl visibly jumped to be addressed without any warning. Gladly, she wasn't holding anything in her hands.

"Yes?" she asked, turning to look at him but without meeting his eyes.

"Do you remember when we went to Tropical Land together more or less a year and a half ago?"

Ran stared at him and nodded.

"Yes." she replied slowly, "You vanished right that day. You said that you would have come along with me back home but suddenly, you changed idea and left, saying me to go ahead and that you would have caught up."

"Right." Shinichi smiled slightly, noticing that she remembered all these details of his departure and turned to Takagi and Satou. "Detectives, do you remember the murder that occurred on the roller coaster, there at Tropical Land?" The two nodded and the boy proceeded. "There were two people there that had caught my attention and, unfortunately, they were the beginning of all my problems.."

Shinichi paused.

"While I was walking away with Ran, I caught sight of Vodka, one of the men in black, lurking suspiciously near an alley. I knew that he had to be up to something so I followed him after leaving Ran. I found out that I was right: Vodka was black-mailing a man. I had a camera with me so I started taking pictures but this lowered my guard and attention. I didn't hear or even notice that Gin was behind me. The next thing I knew was a metal bar slamming against my head and my blood flowing down my face and neck."

Ran gasped in horror along with Kazuha.

"I fell down on the ground and heard Gin and Vodka talking about how to get rid me." Shinichi paused, knowing that he had come to the poignant point. "Vodka was ready to shoot me on the spot but Gin.. didn't. He didn't want to attract the police's attention. I remember him saying that I would have been their guinea pig for the testing of a poison." Shinichi glanced at his small audience and saw the tensed looks on their faces. "You see, the Organisation, we found out later, supported the research and creation of poisons and drugs along with their other criminal activities. The one that Gin was speaking of is called APTX-4869: a traceless, lethal poison. I wasn't very clear minded for the hit on my head but I clearly remember Gin lifting me and force feed me a capsule along with some water and then leave me crumple to the ground again. Gin and Vodka left immediately, leaving me there on the ground, sure that I was dead for the poison."

Shinichi looked up, trying to keep his calm now that he was going to reveal his secret.

"They were wrong. I didn't die as you can see, otherwise I wouldn't be here talking to you." A faint trace of a smile made its way on his face but quickly disappeared. "Fortunately for me, they had left without checking if I had really died and, fortunately again, the poison didn't accomplish it's final task. Though it did effect me."

"Kudo-kun.." Satou sat up on her chair, looking concerned, hearing the boy's troubled tone, "What happened to you?"

"The poison had a..peculiar side-effect. It.. it effected my body without killing me. Somehow, it saved my life though it created me lots of problems."

"What happened to you?"

Shinichi looked up as Ran spoke. Her tone was clear and unwavering but with a hint of sharpness that made him understand that he had to tell the truth immediately.

'They have already waited enough..' he thought and put a hand in his pocket, taking the objects inside and slowly laid them on the glassed coffee table that was in front of him.

Satou and Takagi exchanged a puzzled, slightly alarmed glance. Kazuha shot a confused glance to Heiji but he didn't even look at her; he only looked at Shinichi. But the eastern detective wasn't bothering to the stares he received. His eyes were fixed on Ran. The girl was looking at the objects on the table.

A pair of glasses and a large, red bow-tie.

Ran couldn't believe her eyes. All her past suspicions came back to surface, all the thoughts that she had chased away as though they were impossible. But now..

She looked up and met Shinichi's eyes and when she saw the sorrowful look in his eyes, she knew the truth. Her heart shattered. Again, for him. Because of him. She looked away.

A couple of minutes of uneasy silence filled the room. Shinichi's eyes left Ran and scanned the room: everyone but Ran was looking at him.

'They want an answer..' he thought, 'I owe them one.'

"The poison affected me. It.. it shrunk me." he whispered, "I was found by some policemen and I realised what really happened to me only later, after they had taken me away and mended my head wound. I.. I didn't know what to do.. I just ran away and came here to my house. Hakase found me and I managed to convince him that the.. kid in front of him was really me. He convinced me, on the other hand, not to go out and try to find the men in black or go and tell anyone who I really was. He said that I had to take advantage of the fact that they thought I was dead. We were discussing of that when... when.."

"I came in." Ran said, making many heads turn to her but she only stared at Shinichi.

"But.. that's impossible!" Kazuha burst out. "You can't be shrunken! Come on, a teenager cannot turn into a ..." She looked at the glasses and bow-tie, looking incredulous, "Into a seven year old!"

Shinichi leaned forward and took the glasses. Without a word, he slowly slipped them on his nose. When he looked up, Satou was once again struck by a sense of déjà-vu that made her recall Shinichi's words. It was so impossible that she just couldn't believe it.. It was impossible.

Shinichi reached out for the bow-tie but didn't use it. He turned to Kazuha.

"Kazuha-neechan."

A shiver ran down the Osaka girl's spine. Ran turned around in shock.

Shinichi's voice had rose a few octaves. It sounded unnatural but also significantly familiar.

The intonation, the innocent hint..

It was him.

"Conan-kun.." Ran muttered. All her suspicions fit together as though they were pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. And as reality sank in, a feeling of betrayal pooled into her body. All the images of the moments she had spent with the little boy that she had started to think of as a little brother replayed in her head.

Takagi looked at Shinichi in what seemed like awe.

"You were Conan-kun?" he managed to ask, "The same one we know?"  
Shinichi removed the glasses and put them back on the table.

"Yes, it was me." he replied with a nod. His expression was solemn and sorrowful. "I didn't mean to.. lie to any of you. I had to hide the truth otherwise I would have endangered the lives of the people around me. And I didn't want the Organisation to threaten others because of me."

"But you didn't lie to everyone." Ran's tone made Shinichi turn towards her. Her tone was neutral but it also held a hint of accuse and betrayed hurt that made him look away.

"No, I didn't." he admitted, "Agase knew it from the start and he informed my parents about my situation. Another one that knew was.."

"Me." Heiji cut in, making the other people turn to him, "I found out on my own."

Shinichi quirked an eyebrow ever so lightly at the faint hint of pride he heard in Heiji's tone.

"Hattori found out of me being Conan when we -me, Ran and her father I mean, were at the Sherlock Holmes fans' reunion. Afterwards, he was the only one I asked for help since my shrinking. He could find information about the Organisation through his father or through the police just as I did.. staying with the Mouris." He glanced at Ran and saw once again the hurt expression on her face.

"Was this why you were in all the murder scenes?" Takagi asked, still looking clearly astounded at Shinichi's revelation that he and Conan were the same person.

"Not always." the boy replied, "I happened to be on many scenes.. mainly stumble on the corpses. A couple of times, I could find some details during the cases that were related to the men in black. But I obviously couldn't ask any of the agents or you, Detectives Satou and Takagi to investigate further because it would mean to put you in danger."

"Conan-kun." Satou said slowly and Shinichi turned to her without second thoughts. Satou smiled slightly. "You helped us so many times. I thought, at the beginning, that you were just a sharp child that had learned a lot from Mouri-san but now, I understand that it all came from you."

The boy looked at her and nodded in gratitude.

"Did your presence at the Agency influence Mouri-kun's abilities?" Takagi asked, "I remember you being on the murder scenes and pointing out the clues and the details we seemed to miss. Did you do the same with Mouri-san?"

"Er- I... I really..." Shinichi stammered slightly, not knowing what to say. He really hadn't planned to reveal the whole truth behind Sleeping-Kogoroh. "I helped him.. a bit.."

"What did you do, Shinichi?" Ran asked. She looked at the boy with a firm stare. At this point, Ran only wanted to know everything: she didn't care if it would make her suffer or worse. She just wanted to know what Shinichi had hidden her.

Shinichi toyed with the bow-tie in his hands. He shot a glance at Ran and, seeing the look on her face, he knew that he had to tell her.

Without further doubts, he took the bow-tie in his hands and began to search for Kogoroh's voice. He felt as though he had gone back in time to when he was still Conan and had to solve the case. Hands trembling ever so lightly, Shinichi brought the bow-tie in front of his lips.

"I used this." Kogoroh Mouri's voice echoed throughout the room. The small audience stayed still in stunned silence. "Agase gave me this at the very beginning along with a pair of super powered sneakers and a special watch: a stun-gun with hypodermic needle."

"So... the Sleeping Kogoroh is just.." Takagi whispered, "He's just your doing."

Shinichi didn't answer but his silence was enough to draw all conclusions. Ran kept staring at him. He couldn't make out what she was feeling because her face had turned into some sort of mask that seemed to repel emotions. For a fleeting second, he wondered what had happened to the girl he knew as a child and with whom he had grown with. The girl who seemed to carry her heart on her sleeve and was unable to hide her emotions from him.

'Did I do this to you?' he thought. Afterwards, he realised that maybe, Ran was just changing. Like he did.

"I spent the first six months of my staying at the Mouri Agency, trying to find as much as possible about the Organisation." Shinichi decided that going on with his story was better than waiting in silence, "Unfortunately, the only thing I found out was the name of the two that had nearly killed me: Gin and Vodka. I couldn't find anything despite all my efforts." He paused. "The only information I got was after Rei and Ryu's arrival six months ago when we started to work together."

"Now wait a minute!" Heiji exclaimed, startling him, "Kudo, what about that girl? She was here before Ikeda and Kazama's arrival: I saw her. She was in the Organisation, right? Who is she really? But, besides that, how did you turn back to your normal self? The last thing you told me was that a cure to that poison was still far from being fully prepared."

Ran turned to Shinichi and saw that for the first time she knew him he looked uneasy. Guilty.

"I can't.." he said at last, "It's not my story to tell."

"I can tell it then."

Every head in the room turned to the voice. Shiho was standing by the door frame, leaning on a pair of crutches. The white blouse she wore over a maroon knee-length skirt showed the bandages that were still wrapped around her waist and arm.

Shinichi leapt out of his seat and approached hurriedly.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a hushed whisper, "You should be resting!"

She looked at him in that peculiar way that made him feel as though he was child that was caught doing something that he shouldn't do.

"The doctors said that you should be at bed rest too." she said softly, "I spent the past days laying on that bed. Can you say the same?" Not waiting for his answer, she went on. "But moreover, you should have called me. You shouldn't have started this on your own."

Shinichi felt the caring, concerned note in her tone and softened.

"I didn't want you to be..." he stopped.

"Judged." she completed and he nodded. She smiled slightly. "I have faced worse juries. Come on, they all deserve a satisfying explanation."

Shinichi nodded reluctantly and helped her to his seat. As soon as Shiho was on the armchair, he took a chair from the living room table and sat next to her.

Shiho looked around and was mildly surprised to see so many people: it seemed that she hadn't noticed how many they were at the beginning. She shot Shinichi a glance that hid the silent question and he gave her a wry smile and shrugged. She then noticed the glasses and bow tie scattered on the glass table.

"I see that he has already told you about the shrinking." she remarked calmly.

"But Kudo doesn't want to say a word about you." Heiji said sharply. He just couldn't get over the feeling he had whenever he saw Miyano. It was a gut feeling that told him to be alert. Kazuha shot Heiji a worried glance, alarmed by his attitude.

Ran's attention was on Shiho now. Who was this girl who had captured Shinichi's heart?

"Who are you?" she asked.

Shiho looked at her and shot her a half-smile.

"You know me as another person." she replied, "I know all of you."

Takagi looked at the young woman in front of him and felt a sense of recognition, similar to the one he had when he had seen Shinichi again. His eyes wandered to the glass table and when he saw the glasses and bow-tie, the missing pieces of the puzzle were found. Takagi's eyes widened.

"A... Ai.." he mumbled, "Ai-chan.." He immediately turned red for having addressed the girl with the intimate suffix.

Shiho smiled at him and nodded.

Ran stared at her, wondering as she had done before, how could she have been so blind. The same reddish-blonde hair, the same guarded, too-mature expression, those light blue eyes that often chilled her..

'Ai-chan..' she thought, 'And Conan-kun..'

"You are Ai Haibara?" Satou asked, looking at the girl.

"Yes, I had to use that name once I escaped from the Organisation." she replied coolly, "Actually, Hakase fashioned the name for me. I didn't have to improvise and make up a name on the spot..." She shot an amused glance at Shinichi who sweat dropped.

Ran looked at Shiho and Shinichi and saw the shadows of Ai Haibara and Conan Edogawa take their places. How had she been so blind? The way they looked at each other, the way they spoke without words.. It was them.  
"Escaped?" Heiji echoed, arching an eyebrow.

Both Shiho and Shinichi sensed the hint of doubt in his tone. The Eastern Detective felt the strange urge to strangle his western counterpart for not understanding.

"I lived my entire life in the Organisation." Shiho said, looking at her hands on her lap, "My parents were Atsushi and Elena Miyano and they worked for the Organisation. They died shortly after my birth and I was.. entrusted, if we can say so to the Organisation's care. My sister Akemi, fortunately, was entrusted to some family friends since it was written in my parents' wills."

"Couldn't they do the same for you?" Takagi asked in mere curiosity.

"The wills were made before my birth and when my parents died, the Organisation was quick to see that." Shiho's eyes clouded. "They wanted me for themselves." The last statement came out as a whisper.

"Wait.." Heiji pointed out as a sudden thought came across his mind. "Your sister's name is Akemi? Akemi Miyano like the girl that contacted Kazama?"

"Yes." Shiho replied simply, "She asked Ryu to help her."

"Help her?" Satou questioned, "I thought she only gave information about the Organisation."

Shiho arched an eyebrow and turned to Shinichi.

"Didn't you tell them?" she asked.

"No.." he muttered, "I didn't want to.."

Shiho stared at him for a second before turning back around.

"Akemi asked for Ryu's help on purpose." she explained, "She knew that his family's murder had been done by the Organisation. She sought for him because she knew that he would have listened and, maybe, given her the help she needed." Shiho paused. "She wanted to get me out of the Organisation and thought that Ryu, and with him FBI, would be able to do so. She often told me that it was unfair that she could be out of the Organisation while I had to work restlessly for them. She couldn't accept it and tried to find a way to get me out.

Even joining the Organisation in the attempt.

Akemi was a field agent while I was one of the heads of the scientific-research group. So we didn't have many chances to see each other but whenever we did, she would say that one day or another, we would be free. She would have done to keep her promise... even if it meant putting herself in danger."

Shiho stopped and took a deep breath.

"Akemi went to Ryu pleading for help, telling that she didn't care if she would have been arrested as long as I would be free. She gave him all the information she knew and then left knowing that he would have done something. She didn't wait without doing anything in the meantime though; she kept accepting works from the Organisation with the promise that if she did what she was told she and I would have been free to leave forever. But... they lied.."

Ran looked at Shiho and remembered their conversation on the school rooftop months ago and then recalled what Shinichi had said at the hospital.

"Masami..." she said, "Masami Hirota was your sister. Her real name was Akemi Miyano."

"The Million Yen theft should have been the last of a long list of criminal activities" Shiho remarked, "It should have been the last work for the Organisation. Akemi thought that they would have really respected the deal." A flash of some emotion flickered in the young chemist's eyes as she continued. "My sister was killed by Gin after she had hoped that accomplishing the task they asked her would have brought the two of us together and Organisation-free. But at the same time, they told me that they would have let us free once I had finished my task."

"What was it?" Satou asked.

"I was in the scientific group." Shiho paused. "I worked on the development and research of drugs."

"WHAT?" Heiji exclaimed, jumping out of his seat. Shinichi and Shiho looked startled by the sudden outburst: Shiho hadn't said anything that the papers hadn't already divulged.

"Then... you..." Heiji pointed a finger at Shiho, trembling in barely hidden rage, "You made the drug!"

Shinichi and Shiho exchanged a glance while everyone else turned to look at Heiji. It seemed that they didn't seem to see what was happening.

Not immediately..

The drug plus Conan and Ai equals...

"You made the poison that shrunk.. both..." Ran murmured. Every set of eyes was fixed on Shiho. Only Shinichi's didn't have suspicion in them.

Shiho smiled her peculiar half smile and sat straighter, careful not move too abruptly for her wound.

"Yes, I made the poison that shrank Shinichi and me." she admitted, "It's called Apotoxin 4869, APTX-4869. The drug isn't only responsible of the 'Apothosis', that is death, but also leads to the activation of a hormone that increases the efficiency of cellular multiplication. It's efficiency is immediate. It's untraceable in any blood testing. The death would be classified as a natural one in absence of any other proof."

Shiho was speaking as though she was giving an academic lecture. Her tone was even, colourless and very calm. A full blown silence greeted her words.

"How come it didn't affect neither of you?" Satou asked with a hint of mild curiosity, "If it's so... _lethal_, how come you survived?"

"It seems that there was a slight flaw in the project that I must have missed." Shiho carefully said after a moment of silence, "As far as I know, Shinichi and I are the only ones that have survived after having eaten the APTX capsule."

"So it has killed the other times.." Heiji stated coldly.

Shiho turned to look at him.

"Yes." she said simply.

"Who gave you the poison?"

"I took it on my own will." Noticing the look on his face she added. "I decided to to end my life with my own hands rather than having the Organisation kill me."

"What!" Heiji choked out.

"I worked on the creation of the most lethal drug existing and had to hand it to the most dangerous criminals because it was the only way to gain my sister's and my own freedom. I might have been selfish or even senseless for you, Hattori, but I had no other hope than accomplishing _that_ for a better life." The words rolled out of Shiho's mouth evenly but held a hint of anger and sorrow that couldn't be hidden. "What would you have done if you learned that the last remaining member of your family, the only one you had was killed? If you read about it on the newspapers, wouldn't you ask for more details? But what would you do, if all you got were just menaces? Wouldn't you stop doing what they asked for, threaten to interrupt years of work?"

Heiji stared at her, dumbstruck. Her words played in his mind and he knew that she was telling him what she had gone through. Challenging him to understand, to feel what she must have felt.

"You... chose to stop.. the research?" he stammered and turned to Shinichi as though asking if it was the truth. The Eastern detective nodded.

"I halted any progress on the almost-complete APTX-4869 until they gave me a reasonable explanation for Akemi's death." Shiho smiled bitterly, "As though there could be a reasonable one.. However, the Organisation decided not to tolerate such... insubordination, and sentenced me to death, locking me in an empty chamber till they decided my fate." A gasp echoed throughout the room. Shinichi's face was emotionless as Shiho's one but his inner feelings were shown by his hand, shaking on his lap.

"As a last stand.." Shiho went on, "I decided to take the APTX-4869 myself rather than see the whole Miyano family... _my_ entire family destroyed solely at the hands of the Organization. But.. something went wrong. During testings on lab rats, I had noticed that one of them had shrunk rather than die. One over a fifty cases. I never thought that I, among all people, would be part of that feeble percent."

"Let's thank God for that..." Shinichi muttered so that only Shiho could hear him. She looked up at him and gave him the faintest of smiles.

"I found myself shrunk to the size of a child and managed to escape through the ventilation pipe. Once I was out, without any place to go, I remembered the other APTX victim. The only one whose death hadn't been confirmed.."

"Shinichi..." Ran whispered, her eyes straying form Shiho to the boy.

"Yes." Shiho looked at her and their eyes met. "It was the only place I knew and I hoped that he would have helped me, since we both happened to share the same fate."

Ran nodded imperceptibly and the blonde went on.

"I ran under the rain till this district in Beika. And I passed out right in front of the Kudo mansion's gates. Hakase found me lying on the ground and took me at his house. When I came back to senses, he made me feel comfortable and then asked who I was. I confessed everything and he decided to help me. That very night, he came up with my name: Ai Haibara. And a few days later, I joined Teitan Elementary and.." Shiho looked at her side towards Shinichi. "We met for the first time."

Shinichi smirked as he recalled their first meeting nearly an year ago.

"After a bit of... -er..." Shinichi stammered trying to find the right word, "Well... hostility.. we decided to cooperate. The Organisation was after both of us and our lives' were linked together: if one was found, the other was bound to be found as well. We.. _I_ was always with my ears open trying to find any hint about the men in black. She was a bit more cautious... too cautious."

"And I was right to be so." Shiho mildly protested, "He was too reckless and didn't fully realise how dangerous the Organisation could really be. A bit of common sense got into his head when we encountered Gin and Vodka and risked to reveal ourselves."

"When did _that_ happen?" Heiji asked, "I didn't know that!"

"I told you.." Shinichi replied. Then, as an afterthought, he scratched the back of his head. "I think. so, at least..."

Shiho failed to hide a smirk as she saw Heiji's face turn a dangerous red. She turned to the others.

"There isn't much to say afterwards..." she said, "We kept our cover more or less until Rei came here seeking for Shinichi's help. And then Ryu joined us too. As we working to bring the Organisation down, I worked on the development of the APTX's antidote. Thanks to some data that was in Ryu's possession, I managed to have a head start rather than having to work on it from step one. I managed to finish the antidote a couple of months ago when we had to put up the stunt of Conan and Ai's departure." She paused. "And that's all I can say. The papers have told all the rest."

Once she stopped talking, the room went quiet except for Heiji who was busy arguing with Shinichi and Kazuha trying to keep him calm.

Ran stared at them without really seeing them. She took in all the information she had gathered today. It was too much...

Too absurd..

Her mind was lost in a stream of thoughts. Her childhood with Shinichi. The past year with Conan.

Two people that she cared for and that had been by her side when she needed help. Memories over memories overcame her along with the images of their many adventures together.

And suddenly, she imagined herself standing in front of Conan and Shinichi.

Both dressed in blue. Both with a hand in their pocket. Both with that cocky half smile.

'How could I miss it?' she wondered as she saw the two's faces merge into one and turning into the face of the Eastern Detective.

'How...? How could you stay by my side for all this time and lie the whole way through..?'

She looked at the boy sitting across her. Shinichi was still talking animatedly with Heiji. Ran noticed that Shiho was observing the two with mild amusement.

At this point, Ran realised that she had come to the point where a decision had to be made.

Shinichi had told them everything. From his first encounter with the Organisation till the day he took the antidote to the poison.

Now she knew everything about Shiho Miyano. She had learned about Rei Ikeda and Ryu Kazama through the papers.

She knew everything.

Now the point is, will she be able to forgive him?

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It was snowing.

Not the blizzard-like storm that had gone on for the past days but a light shower with fluffy flakes; the city was covered with a thick white blanket.

It seemed to be Christmas but the holiday had been months ago and people were busy either going to work or to school. A couple of school children were merrily running down the sidewalks, pelting each other with snowballs.

Rei looked at the scene from her window, with a mug of coffee in her hand and smiled.

It had been two weeks since she had come back to America with Ryu, Matt and the FBI. And ten days since she moved back into her old flat. She had spent the first three days of her staying at Chris' place. She had gently refused her guardian's offer to stay at his house since she knew that Ayase-san's wife had just had a baby and she didn't want to disturb them. Moreover the Ayase house was at the opposite side of New York from Rei's house and she was still recovering from her injuries. At the moment, however, she was fine and only had the cast on her hand.

Anyway, after having sent a cleaning company to sort through her flat, Rei had settled back in. The first thing she noticed was that more than half of her things, from clothing to common use objects were all in Japan at the Kudo mansion. Gladly, she had brought a few things in her suitcase.

The house on the other hand, was just as he remembered. The short hallway that led to the living room, the small kitchen on the left. Her room was on the right next to the bathroom.

It was small but she liked it.

Rei sipped the hot drink and sat on the armchair and opened the day's newspaper on the coffee table in front of her.

There was still a column dedicated to the Organisation on the front page, debating on the trials that had occurred in Japan weeks ago. As she flipped through the pages with her good hand, Rei read about the various unsolved crimes that had been reopened and finally closed now that the culprits had been caught. She knew most of these events since she had read them in the Organisation's archives.

Her stare fell on an article regarding Koizumi and she felt a blush creep on her face when she read her name mentioned more than once. The article was praising her ability in computering and cryptography, the fact that she had decrypted the code that allowed to read the Org's secret data and her close encounter with Koizumi back in the mansion. Mansion that, they had later found out, had belonged to the late Koizumi family and that had been sold after their son Koji had left. Rei wondered how the papers had managed to find out all these details. She also had the feeling, as she went on reading, that the article was highlighting the fact that she was an FBI agent. Agent that had studied in America, graduated in America and lived in America. And the same went for Ryu whenever he was mentioned on the papers.

'They sure want to show that I owe most of my knowledge to them..' she mused, 'Mind you, it _is_ true after all...'

She sipped another bit of coffee and put the mug on the table. She absently flipped through the pages of the paper. Her mind wandered from the random articles to the past days' events.

Rei and Ryu had had to face their seniors in a rather uncomfortable meeting during which every single one of their actions had been questioned. It seemed that FBI's chiefs hadn't accepted very gracefully the fact that they had been kept out of the MYSTERY operation...

Rei had to explain that her suicide antic had been necessary not only for the plan but also for her own well being; otherwise, the Organisation's men would have surely killed her.

Ryu had a rough time going through a third degree where his loyalties were questioned. He had to swear that he wasn't a traitor and that he had infiltrated into the _Organisation_ and not viceversa as many thought.

They had been helped mostly by Matt and his father. Inspector Xanders had more than once proclaimed both Rei and Ryu's loyalty to FBI. He had given a detailed description of their past and had said that due to their families' tragic demise they couldn't possibly be in collusion with the Organisation in any way.

Inspectors Morris, Knight and Carter and Detectives Fabian testified in favour of Inspector Xanders words, saying that Rei and Ryu were not criminals but loyal FBI men.

Stubborn, maybe a bit too reckless.. but loyal.

With a sigh, Rei leaned back on the armchair and closed her eyes.

She felt as though she had just waken up after a long dream and the world had gone on without her. Now that she was in her apartment, alone, she realised that she had to make a decision that she had postponed too many times.

She sat still, savouring the warmth of her house and hearing the snowflakes against her windows.

"What now, Rei?"

It came as a soft whisper. Barely audible. But it was the question that had taunted her ever since she truly acknowledged that the Organisation was gone; ever since the trials were over.

Now that she had fulfilled her mission, finding and imprisoning her parents' murders, what was she going to do? She had come to USA to study as an undergraduate in computer science to get the knowledge to find the murderers. She had joined FBI to be able to track the murderers.

And now that she had done it, what was she to do?

Her thoughts drifted to Shinichi and Shiho and wondered how they were doing.

'Should I stay here and go on with my life with FBI?' she thought, 'Or must I go back to Japan? Or should I go somewhere else and start all over again?'

"What should I do?" Rei mumbled to herself.

It was all so ephemeral .. her thoughts so confused..

And to add more confusion, she had been called by...

The ring of the phone made her start in surprise and her eyes popped open. She walked to the phone table by the small two-seat couch and took the receiver.

"Hello?" she said slowly, wondering if it was another annoying journalist wanting some other detail about her family or about MYSTERY.

"_Hi_."

A wide smile spread on the girl's face and she let herself fall on the couch.

"Hi.." she said softly.

"_What are you doing?_"

"Not much. Just looking through the news after breakfast."

"_I see..._" There was a pause. "_Weren't __you__ on the papers today_?"

"Ryu..." Rei protested, noticing the teasing in his voice. The boy laughed softly.

"_What? It's the truth._"

"I know but... I'm still not used at..."

"_Notoriety?_" Ryu completed her sentence.

"Yes." She sighed. "How can you stand it?"

"_I'm not notorious._"

"Oh really?" Rei remarked ironically, "Must I mention the article where a _certain_ FBI agent's work as infiltrator were highly praised? Or the one where the same agent's abilities in engineering were considered outstanding? Or.."

"_Enough, enough.._" Ryu stopped her. Rei could hear a hint of embarrassment in his tone. "_I got it: no need to continue, thank you!_"

She laughed and leaned back on the couch, twisting the phone line with her fingers.

"What are you doing by the way?" she asked.

"_Not much. Aunt Yurie's still fussing me for the injuries, even though they're all gone by now, and has prohibited me any action within the house that isn't resting or eating... And occasionally going to the bathroom. I'm sort of trapped in my room and have gained a few pounds for sure._"

Rei snorted a short laugh imagining Ryu's face.

"You're mean.." she remarked, "Mrs. Xanders is so sweet to worry about you."

There was a moment of silence.

"_I know._" he said at last, "_But you know me.. I can't just stay still._"

"So... is this a way to say that I must come down to your place?" she asked. "Again?"

In the past days, Rei had often gone to visit the Xanders. Whenever they weren't called at the FBI headquarters, they would try to spend some time together; either the two of them alone or with Matt.

"_Please.._"

"Well... I'll think about it."

"_Mean woman.._"

Rei laughed again.

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Shinichi and Shiho were at the mansion's front door in front of Detectives Satou and Takagi who were leaving.

"You have been very quiet." Shinichi remarked, looking at the two police officers, "Unlike Hattori who still wants more answers.."

Takagi looked at the young man in front of him and his mind wandered to another moment. To not so long ago but yet it seemed so far.

_Two people, a boy and a man, trapped in an elevator.. with a bomb._

_"Just tell me one more thing.." the man said, looking up at the boy, "Exactly.. who are you?"_

_The child looked at him with eyes too wise for his age and smiled._

"You said that I would know what I wanted to know in afterlife." Takagi said to Shinichi, "But, it seems that I didn't have to wait for so long.."

Shinichi stared at him for a moment. And then smiled, remembering.

"No." he replied, "Thankfully not."

The two women looked at them in puzzlement but didn't receive an answer.

"There isn't much to say." Satou remarked after a couple of moments of silence, "When Inspector Megure told us to come here if we wanted some answers, I imagined that the truth would have been..." She stopped, unable to find the right word.

"Surprising?" Shiho suggested.

Satou looked at her and nodded with a smile.

"Yes." she said, "I can't blame you for your actions: you just thought to do what was right. And I'm not a judge to say of that was right or wrong." She looked at the two teens and her smile softened. "However, I must thank both of you. More than once, your subtle suggestions and ideas helped us solve cases. And saved our lives as well. I know what the papers' have said but.. that isn't important. It doesn't matter. I just want to say, thank you. To both of you."

Shinichi grinned broadly and even Shiho failed to hide a smile.

It was gratifying and self-warming to know that despite everything, all the critiques, the blames and the judgements, there was still someone that appreciated their work.

"Same for me." Takagi added with his open smile, "I probably wouldn't be here if it weren't for you guys. And the Detective Boys." He added the last bit as an afterthought.

Satou laughed followed by Shinichi and Shiho.

The officers approached the teens and shook hands with both.

"Come over at the police station every now and then, Kudo-kun." Satou said to Shinichi, "You might help us out with other cases. Do it for the sake of Conan-kun."

"I'll keep it in my mind." he replied.

"And the same goes for you, Miyano-kun." she said to Shiho."Ai-chan's silent brilliance can be handy."

"All right." the reddish-blonde answered with a smile.

The detectives walked to the car, leaving the two teens at the door. As they took off, they stayed in silence.

"I finally understand why Inspector Megure looked so shocked after his talk with Kudo-kun." Takagi stated , driving down the main road.

"Yes." Satou said, "If I hadn't heard all of this with my own ears I wouldn't have believed it."

"Neither would I."

They were silent for another while.

"Conan and Ai..." Satou muttered. A distant memory crossed her mind.

_"If someone solved this mystery, I would do anything for them."_

_The kids began to jump up and down asking for the most impossible of things; like living in a castle or getting a ticket to the International Space Ship or getting to eat a few hundreds of eel dishes. Takagi and Shiratori looked oddly dreamy. What were they thinking about?_

_And then, _those_ two looked up at her._

_"I want Prada's newest handbag model.."_

_"Can I have tickets to the next World Cup?"_

Satou felt a smile creep on her face. Takagi noticed it.

"What?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing." she replied, shaking her head and looked out of the window.

-

"Well, it didn't go that bad, did it?" Shiho said, watching the red car disappear from view.

"No, indeed." Shinichi admitted, "Inspector Megure, Detective Satou and Detective Takagi took the news quite well as a matter of fact."

They turned and after having closed the gates, Shinichi looked at Shiho with a bit of concern as she walked with the crutches towards the house.

"You're sure you're alright?"  
"Yes."

"The wound's not hurting you?

"No."

"Are you su...?"

"Shinichi?" Shiho's tone had a hint of exasperation.

"Yes?"

"Who's more doctor between you and me?"

"You?" he pointed out with puzzlement.

"Exactly." She looked at him and smirked. "And _I_, the Doctor, am saying that I'm fine."

The boy failed to hide a smile.

As they entered the house, Shinichi eyed the living room with a bit of apprehension. Shiho noticed it immediately.

"Worried?" she asked.

"A bit." he admitted. He had to deal with Hattori now and that was something he wasn't looking forward for. And _then_, he had to deal with Ran. He looked at Shiho and smiled evenly. "It's going to be a long afternoon."

Shiho's stare was focused on him for a couple of moments before she spoke, turning to the living room's door.

"If you want, I can talk to Ran-san while you clear things of with Hattori."

That was something the Eastern Detective didn't expect.

"_What?_" he exclaimed.

"You talk to Hattori, I talk to Mouri."

"Why?"

"I have to speak to Ran-san." Noticing the doubtful look on his face, she added, "What?"

"I'm not sure that I want to leave you alone with Ran."

"Why so?"

"Because you're injured, Ran's a Karate champion and.. oh yes, Toyama-san will be there too and she's an Aikido champion."

The reddish blonde's head turned to him, a spark of amusement playing in her light blue eyes.

"Worried for me, Shinichi?" she asked, "Do I have to remember you that I've been trained by the Organisation? I could deal with much worse people and, by the way, Mouri and Toyama don't seem the violent, revengeful type of people."

"That's what you think.." Shinichi muttered.

The girl shot him a glance and shook her head before getting into the living room. With a sigh, Shinichi followed her.

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"Stop laughing, will you?"

Ryu sat on his computer chair, holding the phone on his left ear. He looked mildly annoyed but nevertheless a small smile crept on his face. He swirled on his chair and looked around his room, the one that was his since the day he arrived at the Xanders' house.

There were shelves full of books going from Engineering to Computer Science, from Electronics to Mechanics and every here and there a mystery novel poked out. His desk was empty aside a large lamp and a small stereo that were on it. There was his computer table on the far corner next to the window but it was empty since he had all his things at Shinichi's house. On a small shelf above the table was a stack of CDs and DVDs.

It was his room. The place where he had spent most of his time besides college and FBI. And it hadn't varied at all in the years.

"_Ryu..?_"

The boy snapped out of his reverie and turned his attention to the phone.

"Good to see you've stopped.." he remarked with a teasing note in his voice.

"_Oh, come on.._" Rei's voice held an amused hint. "_Hearing you protesting about Matt isn't something that can be taken seriously._"

"You say that because you don't live with him." he protested, "Ever since he and Chris are going out together, he's...impossible to stand! I swear, even you wouldn't be able to suffer him!"

The girl laughed softly.

"_I just can't imagine a wrapped up in love Matt._" she remarked, "_He has always been so cool and composed.._"

"You haven't seen him during the last week. Now that everything is over and he doesn't have any dutiful job to do, he's whole attention is focused on Chris. And on telling _me_, everything about her. Believe me, brother or not, certain things shouldn't be said."

"_He's just happy and you should be happy for him. I saw Chris a couple of days ago and I haven't seen her smile so radiantly since I know her._"

"I am happy for Matt. For God's sake, he's my brother but... I just can't stand when he goes on about Chris here and there..."

There was a moment of silence.

"_Were you like that?_" Rei asked.

"What!"

"_I was just wondering.. When.. we didn't... I mean._..." Ryu was amused to hear Rei stutter embarrassedly. "_Before we confessed to each other.. were you like that too?_"

Ryu recalled the days... weeks... months after his meeting with Rei and felt a blush creep on his face.

"Er..."

"_I thought so._"

The blush on Ryu's face turned a darker shade of red.

"_By the way, did you speak with Shinichi or Shiho recently?_" Rei asked, giving the boy a few moments to return to a normal colour.

"I chatted with him through e-mail last night." he replied, "I asked how things were going down in Japan and he asked how we doing here. He said that Shiho's recovering."

"_I talked with her the day before yesterday. She said that the papers have calmed down a bit and that Shinichi and Hakase are an utter nightmare telling to her rest every single minute._"

Ryu laughed.

"I can imagine... Hakase is quite tough to convince."

He expected an answer but didn't receive any. Arching an eyebrow, he looked at the phone receiver wondering if something was wrong.

"Rei?"

"_Yes, I'm still here._" she answered at the end, "_I was just thinking._"

"What about?"

"_It's... just so strange. I mean.. I'm so used to see Shiho every day, talk to her about anything that it seems so awkward to hear her every once in a while. And the same goes for Shinichi._"

"I know.. I feel the same too. I'm sort of used of talking with Shinichi every morning or chatting with Shiho about so and so.."

The two stayed in silence, pondering.

"We've bound a lot in these six months.." Ryu remarked absently, "I honestly can't imagine my life without seeing you, Shinichi and Shiho every day...or nearly."

"_Yes.._" Rei replied. Another moment of silence followed before the girl spoke again.

"_Ryu?_"

"Yes?"

"_What are you going to do?_"

"What?"

"_Now. What are you going to do now? Now that all is over?_"

"We've talked about this before.." he commented airily.

"_Yes, but you never gave me an answer._"

"My answer hasn't changed: I don't know. Not yet at least."

"_Not.. yet?_" Rei questioned sharply, "_What do you mean?_"

Ryu stayed silent.

"Rei, have you received any job offers?" he finally asked.

"_What?!_"

"Did anyone contact you offering a job?"

"_Why..?_"

"So?"

Rei didn't answer immediately. Ryu sensed her hesitation.

"_Yes._" she finally admitted. "_I received a few calls from a couple of governative agencies and a few private firms. IBM, Bell and so and so.._"

"Agencies from the Government... " Ryu stated, "Who?"

"_Well, FBI was the first. They called from the main offices offering me a higher ranking position in their offices due to my computer skills._"

"I thought so. They called me too, offering me a high level position as systems security technician."

Ryu smiled slightly. "As a Sys-Sec. Who else called you? "

"_The National Security Agency._"

"What?" Ryu bolted up straight in surprise. "The NSA?"

"_Yes._"

"You've got to be joking.."

Rei laughed.

"_No, I'm serious._" she replied, "_Mind you, I didn't believe my ears when they called..._"

"That's one of the most influential government organisations in the world."

"_Don't I know.. Everyone in the cryptography department at college dreamed do enter in NSA: I still remember the guys at Cryptography talking about it. And the organisation is exactly how they described it._"

"That is?"

"_What the NSA wants, the NSA gets. I think they must have got the wind that I was going to be contacted by other governative organisations and by privates. I received a call from a woman from NSA and received a plane ticket the following day._"

"What!"

"_A plane ticket to Washington. There isn't the day of the flight though; I think that I can decide when to get there at my choice._"

"It seems that they take for granted that you'll be going there."

"_I didn't give them a full answer. Even though, I must admit, their offer was _very_ appealing._"

"Wow." Ryu commented simply.

"_What about you? Who wants Mr. Kazama's services?_"

"A couple of private firms in US and Asia. FBI and... I got a call from the CIA." he replied hesitantly.

"_What!_" Rei exclaimed. It was her turn to be surprised.

"Yeah.." Ryu said rather embarrassed, scratching the back of his head. "I nearly dropped the receiver when I heard who they were. They heard about Dad's devices and that I had bettered them. They seemed to be quite interested.."

"_Who wouldn't Ryu? I mean, the _Organisation_ wanted to get its hands on your devices._"

Ryu stiffened slightly as his father's life long work was defined as his own but quickly recovered.

"Yeah.." he stated.

They stayed in silence for a few moments.

"_Are you going to accept any of the offers?_" Rei asked.

"I.. I don't know." Ryu admitted softly, "I must think about it, Rei. There are many things that I have to clear up now."

"_You mean the... after?_"

"I thought about it, Rei. I started thinking about what to do now that Organisation's gone. Ever since I came back here, I realised that I have to make a decision about my future.

In these years, I have developed many abilities, along with the perfection of my father's microelectronic invention. I spent my time trying to reach a level of knowledge that could have allowed me to have the instruments to find my family's killer. And to do it, I studied at college as an undergraduate and got a degree, joined FBI and became an agent. At last, I started to investigate. And you know how it went... My work as an infiltrator, MYSTERY, then the escape from America to Japan and the whole period with you, Shinichi and Shiho.."

"_So many things in so little time.._" Rei stated, remembering what had happened in hardly a year and a half.

"Yes. And now that everything is over, I realised that I have come to a point where I can't turn back. As I received all these work offers, I realise that people see me as a engineer, a qualified scientist or a well-trained police agent. They don't see me as a teenager, not as a seventeen year old.

Whether I like it or not, I'm treated as an adult and I have to behave as to it. When I was twelve, I planned out my life, precluding myself a normal childhood in the name of the revenging desire I had to find my family's murderers. I knew that in the time of three, maximum four years, I would have the abilities to find them. I didn't know how long it would have taken though. My desire of revenge fogged my mind to the point that I totally forgot to plan my future.

But now, it's done. And the time has come for me to think about that future that I had so ignored and... start to forget that past that has haunted me for so long.."

Ryu's last words came out as a whisper and he heard Rei sigh softly. His words reflected her life and her own problems.

"_So..._" she said, "_You're saying that it's time to think about ourselves? My parents, your family.. they can rest in peace now... So... It's our turn to find.._"

"Peace." he whispered. "It's our turn now."

A long, poignant silence fell between them.

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I finally updated!! -Annitha jumps up and down-

Oh my gosh, it took me forever..

I sincerely apologize to all readers. This story has slowed down to drastic levels. I can't promise anything but just say that the updates will come.

As you have seen, this chapter is the first part of a longer one. _Again_, you might say.

It wasn't intentional actually.

I was writing this chapter and had come to put in all the things that I thought were necessary. Suddenly, I didn't remember a detail and went back to read the older chapters. And.. -surprise!

I realised that there are many small open questions throughout the story that have to answered. I think that cutting the chapter at this point was the only way. It gives you reading, (without cliffhanger! I'm not that cruel! -) and it gives me time to finish the second part and put in all the details I have to put. By the way, I've posted the first 12 chapters again. There are a few minor changed here and there. Read them and tell me if there are still mistakes.

Updates will come... sooner or later..

Please wait!

READ AND REVIEW!!

Bye to all and hear you guys!

Annitha


	34. There is only One truth B

Four points of the same star.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Detective Conan.

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

_**Chapter 2**__**9**_

_There is only One Truth (B)_

A door opened suddenly with a loud slam and coughs echoed throughout the house.

A wisp of smoke came out from the lab, trailing down the corridor as the round figure of Hiroshi Agase appeared at the door's threshold; wiping his hands on his lab coat and cleaning his glasses with a sleeve, he strolled down the corridor to the living room.

He caught a glimpse of his appearance on the window panel and failed to suppress a curse at the sight of the black streaks all over his once-clean garment. With a sigh, he took it off and headed to the bathroom, ready to throw the coat into the washing machine but found it full with other clothes that he thought he had washed two days ago... but clearly had not.

Muttering under his breath, Hakase stowed the dirty lab coat on top of the machine and turned the washing machine on and walked out of the room. He went to the kitchen and set the kettle on the stove to make some tea for himself. He sighed slightly at the sight of his plate and his glass still in the sink after lunch.

He opened the water faucet and washed everything. As he dried his hands, his eyes strayed to the window and to the Kudo mansion.

He had gone to check Shinichi-kun and Shiho-kun that morning and had brought them a hearty breakfast. He had noticed that Shiho-kun wasn't as pale as she had been the previous days and Shinichi-kun looked fairly well too, despite the wound on his head hadn't still healed perfectly.

'I could go and check them later this evening..' he thought, 'Maybe with something for dinner.'

He truly wanted to help the two teenagers and he wanted to do all that he could do for them. Especially now that Rei-kun and Ryu-kun were abroad.

Agase felt a dull pang of regret at the thought that the four teens that he had been protecting and looking after from afar for all this time could probably take different roads and just leave not long from now.

The thought was so dreadful that he didn't want to think of it.

Maybe Shinichi would be here if he wasn't busy with his work as detective but what about Rei and Ryu? They would head straight to the States towards the brilliant careers they had most worthily created.

And Shiho?

His Ai-kun would stay. He was sure of that.. but was it fair?

Her brilliance would go wasted if she only stayed here with him, an old scientist with a flair for inventions who went occasionally to conventions.  
Hakase sighed as his eyes wandered around. The state of his house told him how much he had depended on the girl's presence. Even after she had moved to the mansion with the others, Shiho often dropped at his house, helping him clean and tidy up.

'You got spoiled..' he told himself.

As he walked out of the kitchen, he glimpsed at the calendar and saw that he had marked the coming Saturday with a red circle. He suddenly remembered that he had been invited to a convention at Osaka.

A sudden brainwave hit him.

Maybe, he could...

The ring of the phone startled him. He walked to the hall and picked the receiver.

"Hello?" he said, wondering who it could be.

Ten minutes later, Hakase was back in his lab, ready to try his experiment again and feeling a mixture of happiness and sadness fill his heart.

He would go to the mansion later that evening and see if Ai-kun would accept this offer.

It was the best for her and, he realised with a smile, that every parent wanted the best for their children even if it meant a bit of pain for themselves.

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It was cold.  
No, scratch that.  
It was bloody _freezing_.

Matt pulled his scarf tighter around his neck and tried to wrap his jacket more against his body with the hope that a bit of warmth would get to his bones and make him feel less numb.

But, so far, no luck..

Why in the name of God did Christine ask to meet at the park? Why not at a nice, _warm_ bar?

Grumbling under his breath, Matt pulled his gloved hand out of his pocket and checked the time. They had to see each other at ten o'clock and that was ten minutes ago.

'Great time to be late, Chris...' Matt thought darkly, 'You always come ten minutes earlier to meetings and _today_ you're late!'

A sudden gust of wind made the boy shiver and tighten the grip on his jacket. It was nearly March for heaven's sake, it shouldn't be _allowed_ to be so cold! Not when you're so close to spring.

He leaned against the lamppost he was standing in front of and watched a couple of kids far from him pelting each other with snowballs. They seemed to have a great time.

A grin cracked Matt's congealed features as he thought of another couple of kids that had been mercilessly pelting snowballs at each other during a gigantic snowball fight more than -How long ago was it? Five years?

His Dad had been there; so had Uncle James. If he remembered well, it was shortly after Christmas. Matt realised that it had been after the first Christmas that Ryu had spent with the Xanders. The first one after his family's death.

Ryu had been sporting his masterpiece Poker Face during all the holidays. But that day, it had slipped off.. or maybe he just forgot to put it on.

Ryu had been a true, complete twelve year old kid that day. No problems, no pain and most of all, no guilt. He played along with him, his Dad and Uncle James.

Stomping his shoes to keep his feet warm, Matt realised that that had been the last time that they, Ryu and him, had behaved as children of their age. After that, they had decided to carry on Ryu's plan and it had been just studying, training and getting closer to their goal.

Looking upwards to the silvery sky, Matt wondered if now that they had accomplished the task Ryu had decided to reach back then, they could live like any other teenager.

'Probably not..' he thought, 'We have seen too much..'

"Hi."

Matt looked down again and met the hazel eyes of Christine, the only visible features on her face since she was wearing a blue knit hat and a scarf that went up to her nose.

"About time.." he stated, standing straight.

A delicate eyebrow arched.

"Well, good to see you too, Matt." she remarked coolly.

Cursing his tongue, the boy looked down at her.

"It's great to see, Chris." he said, in what he hoped was an apologetic tone.

The girl looked up at him. He stood there with his hands shoved in his pockets, fringe falling on his face, green eyes peering at her through dark strands. And when she thought that he couldn't look more adorable than that, he flashed her one of his trademark smiles.

If Christine's heart and insides had been on the verge of liquefying before, now they had downright melted into a hot puddle that was merrily flowing through her body. Trying to regain a bit of composure, she adjusted her scarf around her neck and looked at him, smiling softly.

He grinned, eyes sparkling and they walked out of the park, side by side.

"Where are we going?" he asked, after they turned a corner.

"Anywhere."

"And where's that?" Chris shot him a deadpanned stare, so Matt reformulated. "Ok, what's that meant to be?"

"It means that you can choose where to go and I'll follow."

"Why?"

"Why I'll follow you? Well, if you rather, you can go somewhere and I'll go the opposite direction."

Rolling his eyes, Matt stopped in front of her.

"What's wrong?" he asked. She looked at him and only then he noticed the tensed line of her shoulders and the steely glint in her eyes . "What's wrong, Christine?"

He used her full name and concern laced his voice; she just couldn't resist.

"Sorry." she said, "I just had a long day."

He raised an eyebrow.

"It's barely half past ten in the morning, Chris." he stated.

"Oh, you're impossible!" she huffed, walking past him but he stopped her, grabbing her elbow. At her questioning look, he smirked and steered her back down the street.

"Where are we going?" she asked as his hand slipped from her elbow to her gloved hand.

"Somewhere." he said, earning another deadpanned stare. "The park." He added.

"Why?"

"To relax."

"What?"

They walked through the park gates again and strolled down the path that went through its length. The path was cleared of snow but the edges were boarded by white heaps of slush.

"M..Matt..." Chris stammered, closing her eyes as a gust of biting wind reached her, "Where are we going?"

"Here." he said, pulling her off the path and then coming to a stop.

She looked in front of her and slowly left his hand.

They were in a hidden niche of the park. Trees surrounded them and a bench was placed beneath the low branches of a large oak. The view of New York covered with snow was mesmerising.

"What do you think?" Matt asked , startling her slightly. Chris turned around to find him sitting on the bench.

"It's- " She sat down next to him. "-great. I've never been here before."

"Not many know this place."

"What? Is this a place where you take girls when you try to hit on them?"

Matt snorted and looked away but Chris noticed a faint blush of embarrassment colour his face.

"I found this place years ago when I was out for a run." he said, "And just to be clear, you're the first person I've ever brought here."

Ignoring the warm tingling that was going through her body, Chris smiled and turned to him.

"Is that a line?" she teased.

"No." he answered and smirked slightly, "Do I look like one that uses lines?"

She shrugged and looked in front of her again. They sat together in pleasurable silence

"So, what's wrong?"

Chris glanced at him. He was peering at her through his fringe.

"It really isn't anything." she admitted, "I was just annoyed."

"With who?"

"My family. Mostly my sisters and my brother."

Matt suppressed the chuckle that threatened to come out of his mouth and coughed lightly to hide it. Christine's siblings were, in her words, walking calamities.

"What did they do now?" he asked, attempting, but failing to mask his amusement. Chris shot him a dark look.

"My parents are still shaken by the whole MYSTERY plan." she explained, "Dad's a little bit more understanding but Mum's completely sure that I'll get myself killed or send her prematurely to the grave. She's trying to convince me to resign and find a nice, quiet job."

Matt looked at her.

"My mother's like that too." he said, blowing his hair out of his eyes and seeing the puff that his breath produced against the chilly air. "She's terrified that something could happen to Dad or me or Ryu. Oh, and also Uncle James." He glanced at her sideways, a smile playing on his face. "Coming to think of it, you and Rei have been recently added to her People-To-Be-Worried-About list."

"What?" Chris asked in surprise. She had seen Mrs Xanders a couple of times till now. No more.

"She knows that Ryu and Rei are an item. She probably found out that you and I are one, too." He looked at her sideways. "We _are _one, aren't we?" As Chris' face tinged with pink, he grinned. "I'll take that as a yes. Anyway, she knows that we care for you and knowing that, she feels some affection towards you. I suppose it's some crazy thing of my mother..."

"I think it's very sweet of her." Chris said, defending Mrs Xanders. "She probably knows that if something happened to us, you boys would be worried or do something to help us, putting yourself in danger."

"It's a never ending cycle." Matt stated. "Everyone's worried for everyone. I thought that Mum would be used to it by now."

"I don't think that you'll ever be used to the fact that a person you love might not come back after work." she remarked, "It's a reality we all live with."

Silence fell between them. Another cold gust of wind forced them to huddle into their jackets.

"What else?"

Chris turned to Matt in surprise.

"What?"

"What else happened today?" he asked. A sly smile appeared on his face. "What did the oh-so-adorable siblings do to anger the ever-calm Agent Evans?"

"You say that only because you have Ryu as a younger brother.." Chris said dryly, "If you had Ethan as a brother _and_ an elder sister like Alison _and_ a younger sister like Emily _then_ you'd be sympathetic."

"I've seen them a couple of times.." he said, "They're not-"

"_You_ have _no_ idea." Chris cut through his sentence with a firm voice.

"Enlighten me."

She looked at him for a moment and then nodded.

"How long have we been going out?"

"Ever since we came back? No, that's not true.. Ever since I managed to walk without crutches."

"So, a couple of weeks."

"Yes."

"Alison found out today."

"And that annoys you?"

"No, what's annoying is that my twenty year old sister suddenly realised that her eighteen year old sister has a love life and makes it her own, private mission to tell her all there is to know about dating and going out with boys."

Matt decided that he shouldn't dare to open his mouth because he would surely burst out laughing; the thought of Chris cornered by her sister was just too much. He was battling mirth for his own sake but his lips twitched upwards nevertheless. Fortunately, the girl didn't notice.

"She was ranting for hours about a couple of boys she had been dating at high school and this perfect guy she was seeing now at college..." Chris shook her head in disbelief. "I will spare you the details for your own sanity but, believe me, I'm scarred for life."

A low rumbling chuckle escaped Matt's mouth.

"And what else?"

"Emily was in hysterics that we were seeing each other."

"Don't tell me that she started giving you dating tips, too.."

Chris shot him a deadpanned look.

"I found out, just today, that she fancied _you_." she said.

Matt nearly fell off the bench.

"_What?_" he asked, looking at her. "But.. I've seen her more or less five times in the past four years!"

"Don't I know..." she said, "I officially introduced you, Ryu and Rei to my family during- what was it? Luc and my graduation ceremony?"

"Yeah... could be.." Matt remarked, "But we did occasionally see them when we hung around together..."

"According to Emily, it was love at first sight. She even had your photo!"

Matt stared at her.

"Huh?"

"She cut you out of a group photo. One with you, Luc, Rei, Ryu and me at college. I honestly thought that I had lost it but turns out that Emily stole it from my photo album."

"Ah.."

"She left for school this morning nearly in tears and swore that she wouldn't talk to me for time being." Chris paused, looking thoughtful. "Well, _that_ wouldn't be so bad..."

Matt shook his head in disbelief.

"And she's... sixteen, isn't she?" he asked.

"Yes.." She turned to him and narrowed her eyes. "Don't get any ideas of hitting on my little sister.." she said threateningly.

Matt shook his head so vehemently that she couldn't help but crack a smile.

"What about your brother?" he asked after a bit.

"Oh, Ethan was the cherry topping of my disastrous morning." Frustration laced Chris' voice again. "He got all shirty with me because I got my name on the papers before him."

"What?" Matt looked at her with a expression that was pure confusion.

"It's a thing he's been ranting of for the last months." Chris explained, "Did you hear of that kid -how old was he? Thirteen, maybe.. However, this kid saved his parents during an attempt of burglary at their shop."

"Oh, yeah.." Matt nodded, remembering the piece of news, "He was in the back room and the thieves didn't see him so he called the police and got them arrested."

"Yes. Well, Ethan's new thing in these months was to do something and get his name on the newspaper and he's angry because I got mine on them before him."

"His new.. thing?"

"My brother's crazy ideas... He's deciding what he wants to do when he will be older and he hasn't got a clear idea yet. He wanted to become a famous football player, then an astronaut, then a fireman and then he read of this kid and now he wants to become a famous twelve year old." Chris shook her head. "I'm dreading to know what he'll come up with once he gets into junior high..."

Matt chuckled softly.

"Your family sounds like fun." he stated, "There's always something new coming up.."

"Oh, sure..." Chris drawled, "Look how happy and content I am."

"Come on.." Matt insisted, looking at her, "You have two sisters and a brother and it's natural to argue over stupid things..." He smirked. "Ryu and I argued over other things.."

Christine turned to him.

"Like what?" she asked. She had never seen the two boys argue.

"When we younger, the main argument between us was maths: partial derivatives and improper integrals, in particular."

The expression on Christine's face was priceless.

"_What?_" she exclaimed.

"Well.. I can't do maths to save my life." Matt admitted, "Ryu _always_ used to point that out.."

"Whoever would argue over.. _mathematics_?"

Matt looked at Chris.

"Why do you think I studied Law while Ryu went off to Engineering?" he asked, "While we were studying to get into college after high school, Ryu discovered that I had no interest in scientific subjects such as maths, chemistry or physics and that caused a little rift between us because it didn't suit his plan. He thought that we could both apply for Engineering and be more qualified. When I suggested Law, he didn't seem very sure but then accepted it.. eventually.."

Christine stared at him.

"How old were you then?"

"Er- fourteen, I think. I turned fifteen during my first year at university. Ryu was thirteen."

"You were kids.." Christine sometimes forgot how the whole plan that had led to MYSTERY had been created even though she knew all the details behind it.

Matt stared at her.

"Look who's talking..." he drawled, "You were an undergraduate just like us. By the way, I've always been meaning to ask..." He turned to her. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you choose to go to college before time?"

"You did that as well."

"I had to help my brother."

Christine smiled slightly at Matt's tone. He made it sound obvious that a fourteen year old would abandon his problem-free childhood to start college, graduate and get into FBI in a couple of years' time because his brother needed help. She almost felt ashamed because her reasons were definitely more selfish.

"I wanted a challenge." she said slowly, "I wanted to change."

Matt turned to her in confusion.

"What?" he asked.

"I was always a step or two in front of my class mates when I was at school." she explained, "At the beginning, I found it a bit amusing and ego-boosting to be honest.... I was better than everyone else! But after some time, I started to hate it. I was feeling estranged among my friends at school and didn't like staying there at all. During my second year at junior high, my teachers noticed the situation and called my parents to discuss about it. Weeks after, I had given my exams and was in high school with my elder sister. Months later I gave the final exams and got into college to study computer science." Christine turned to Matt. "You know the rest."

He nodded.

A comfortable silence fell between them as they admired their city coated in white. A sudden gust of wind made Chris shiver with cold and wrap her coat tighter around herself. She felt Matt move on the bench and the next thing she knew was his arm draped over her shoulders. Feeling her face heating up quickly, she glanced at him. He looked at her sideways with sparkling eyes and then looked in front of him again.

"I'm sorry."

Matt's head turned to his side.

"What?"

"I'm sorry." Christine repeated, looking at him, "I didn't mean to vent all my frustration and anger on you." A tentative smile made its way on her face.

Matt smiled back; it was an open, warm smile that made her heart skip a beat.

"Don't worry." he said, "I'm glad that you did."

"You're happy that I got mad with you?" Chris asked with amusement.

"Well.. not exactly..." Matt swept his free hand through his hair in slight embarrassment. "I mean... I like the fact that you're so... _open_ with your feelings.

I've been dealing with Ryu for all these years... believe me, he'd be impossible to understand even for a mind reader. I had to learn how to reach him: read through the lines and see what he didn't say out loud. Loads of work, I assure you.... And Rei! Oh, she was just like him. Clam-like with her emotions. No wonder those two are a couple..

I'm glad that you're not like them. It would have driven me mad! You are definitely more approachable..." He looked at the girl. "Honestly, I'd be happy to have you vent all your anger or sorrow or whatever else on me.. as long as you don't keep it all shut in yo..."

Matt's rant was cut short as Chris leaned forward and kissed him. When she drew back, a couple of moments later, the boy looked at her with mild puzzlement and embarrassment.

"What was that for?" he asked, looking down at her, "Not that I mind... just why?"

Chris couldn't believe that he didn't know the reason. He had been so sweet to say that to her: to say that she could tell him everything. Matt would always be there for her.

He looked so.. adorable: the way he (still) blushed when they kissed, the way his dark bangs fell over his green eyes as he looked at her.

Christine smiled.

"Because it's you." she replied and kissed him again. Matt didn't retort. She felt him smile and that made her smile back.

Another gust of wind swept past them but they didn't notice it this time.

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"Speak."

Shinichi had expected this sort of reaction.

As they walked to his room in silence, he knew that Hattori was inwardly seething; when he closed the door of his room and Heiji closed the windows with enough force to make the glass (and floor, Shinichi noticed) tremble, he knew that his friend was angry. And, as a final clue, when he sat on his bed and Hattori took the chair by his desk, slammed his cap on the desk and looked up at him with icy eyes, saying that one curt word, he knew that this conversation was not going to be pleasant.

Hattori wouldn't be the hot-headed and impulsive idiot he was if he didn't behave like this.

"From where must I start?" the Eastern detective asked with a sigh.

"From what you didn't tell me." Heiji answered sharply. "It seems that once you got help from more... qualified people, my help wasn't essential anymore."

"That's not true, Hattori." Shinichi retorted with equal sharpness.

"Then tell me...." Heiji sat up straight, "Why didn't you say that during that director's service you didn't just _see_ a member of the Organisation but risked to be exposed and killed? Why didn't you tell me who that girl was when I took your place during that masked party on the ship?" The Osaka teens' eyes were fixed on him. "Are we allies.. friends or.. or was all our friendship just an mean to reach your goal?"

Shinichi sighed again but looked up straight at Heiji's eyes.

"We _are_ friends and we _are_ allies." he confirmed, "I never thought of our friendship as a mean to achieve something. I am a better person than that."

"Then, why...?" Heiji was blocked by Shinichi's raised hand.

Shinichi had been thinking of this for a long time. He had wondered more than once how to talk to Hattori and explain his reasons.

It wasn't a matter of lack of trust but... more like doubtfulness.

He knew Hattori well enough to know how he would react. He knew what would have happened if he had told him of Shiho/Ai immediately.

Heiji would have behaved exactly like Shinichi had when he found out who she was. He would have attacked her verbally. He would have judged her.

Shinichi still couldn't forgive himself for what he had done when she told him who she was. He had mentioned their meeting like a moment with initial hostility but that had been the understatement of the century.

He had been harsh, almost cruel to her. He needed to vent the anger that he had bottled up after the n-th failure to get information about the Organisation.

He didn't understand her feelings at all. He didn't realise what she must have gone through nor the fact that she had reached him for help.

As an ally.

A friend maybe.

He realised his mistake afterwards and was still trying to make up for it despite Shiho herself had forgiven him.

As for Hattori...

Shinichi glanced at the boy in front of him.

They were both very similar. They both had this deep sense of justice rooted in their beings and it was what fueled their actions as detectives.

But after the Organisation, Shinichi had changed.

He still believed in his ideals and that truth would always prevail but he had also learned of caution and of carefulness. He didn't go headfirst into things anymore not only because he knew better now but because he wasn't the only one to be involved.

At first, it had been just him. Alone against the Organisation. No, not alone. There was Hakase but he had always been careful not to expose him to danger.

His parents were never deeply involved. Hattori was at a good distance away to be harmed. Ran and Mouri were oblivious to the danger.

He behaved rashly at times but he knew that if something went wrong, he would be the only one to pay for it. And, most of all, he knew that there would be someone to carry on his work.

That someone was Hattori.

With the arrival of Shiho, he learned that his recklessness could be dangerous. He couldn't forget her state after the memorial and the blood oozing from the many shots that Gin and Vodka had given her.

He also learned that she would behave just as rashly as him when she thought that there was a danger. She would run away as soon as she would feel their presence, not out of cowardice but to enable them from harming those around her. She would throw her life aside if it meant the safety of the people she cared for.

He didn't want her to do that; so he learned to be a bit more cautious. In this way, she would be calmer and wouldn't think of escaping or handing out herself for his safety.

When Rei and Ryu arrived, Shinichi realised that there were many people involved with the Organisation and that bringing it down was a work in progress that needed extreme carefulness.

He hadn't said a word to Hattori because he himself didn't know what was going to happen. Only when the final stage of MYSTERY was going to start, Shinichi knew that his friend from Osaka could really help them.

He hadn't told Heiji about his close encounters with the Organisation because he knew that the boy would promptly get to Tokyo. Then he would start to investigate on his own despite Shinichi's protests and that would be a problem.

Hattori could be a genial detective but tact and secrecy are not his forte.

Shinichi hadn't said anything to Hattori about Shiho because he knew that he would judge her. An ex member, creator of the poison and that claims to have betrayed them. Hattori wouldn't have believed her at all. And Shinichi didn't want to put her in that situation. He didn't want her to be judged by people who didn't know her.

Only then, Shinichi realised that he had taken a choice without knowing it. Between Shiho's well being and Hattori's knowledge of the situation, he had chosen Shiho.

"Well..?"

Shinichi was drawn out of his musings by Heiji's irritated voice. Shinichi looked at him. Hattori was a friend: he would surely understand his reasons.

"I'll explain everything." Shinichi said and started to tell him everything from the start. From the moment a little reddish-blonde haired girl sat next to him in class 3-B...

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Ryu shot a look at the clock on the wall and noticed that he had been on the phone for nearly an hour but the conversation seemed to be far from ending.

"_So Ryu, what would you like to do?_" Rei asked finally.

"What would _you_ like to do, Rei?" he asked back.

"_I would like to do something.. that includes computer science, but that doesn't exclude.. you.._" Ryu felt a blush heat his face. ".._Or the others from my life.. I can't imagine what it could mean to be without seeing you, Shiho and Shinichi constantly._"

Ryu suddenly realised that he too, couldn't think of an existence without seeing his two friends and Rei everyday. His relationship with Rei had blossomed during those days when they were living under the same roof. Despite the fact that they had known each other for years, it had been during that period that they had confessed their feelings to each other. Their relationship had gone on smooth and steady probably because they were together nearly all the time and the thought that this intimacy might cease, scared Ryu. The thought that they might, eventually, fall apart was unbearable to him.

"Neither can I, koishi." he whispered.

The line was silent. Ryu waited for Rei to talk but not a sound came from the other part; for an instant he thought that there was a problem with the phone and checked the receiver in his hand. As soon as he was sure that there wasn't any technical problem, he put the phone closer to his ear.

"Rei?" he called tentatively, "Hello?"

"_I.. I'm still here. Don't worry.._"

"What's wrong?" he asked, hearing that her voice seemed a bit... awkward.

"_It's.. er-_" Rei stammered, making the boy arch an eyebrow. "_You .. never called me like... that before..._"

"Like what?" he asked in confusion.

"_Koishi.._"

A blush, hot and red, made its way on Ryu's face and neck. Had he really...?

"Ah.." he muttered, scratching the back of his head, "I... I didn't really realise.."

A moment of very embarrassed silence fell between them.

"Do you mind it?" he asked out of the blue.

"_What?_"

"Do you mind if I call you like that? Between us, I mean.."

Rei didn't answer immediately.

"Rei?"

"_No.._" she said softly, "_I don't mind...._" She chuckled lightly. "_You're incredible, you know?__ I tho__ught that you couldn't surprise me anymore and here I am, blushing and stuttering..."_

Ryu was sure that the grin on his face made him look like a dope but he didn't care.

"Glad to please you. So-" he stated with a smile, sitting up, "What are you going to do?"

"_In the future? I told you, I don't.._"

"This afternoon, Rei. Let's think of what will come when it will happen."

"_Oh.. Well, it seems that I've got to come and rescue an engineer from the evil clutches of boredom._"

Ryu could almost see Rei's smile through the phone.

"Ok." he replied with a grin. "I'll be waiting for my.. knightess in shiny armour." Rei laughed. "See you later, Rei."

"_Bye.. itoshi._"

Ryu blinked at the receiver in his hand. His heart skipped a beat but the feeling was very pleasant.

"And here I thought that _you_ couldn't surprise me.." he whispered.

Rei laughed again.

_"See you this afternoon, Ryu."_

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To an outsider's eye the scene must have looked quite strange.

Shiho was sitting on one of the armchairs, her crutches by her side. Ran was sitting opposite her, on the other armchair and between them, on the couch, looking as though she was not completely sure what she doing there, was Kazuha.

Heiji and Kudo had gone upstairs more or less ten minutes ago and by the looks on their faces, they would be away for long.

Kazuha fiddled nervously with the straps of her purse as she eyed Ran and Miyano. The Osakan teen wished to be anywhere but there.

Ran was sitting on the armchair with her hands on her lap and her eyes were set on the floor. She seemed to be lost in thought and Kazuha had a couple of ideas of what she was thinking. She might not have Heiji's brains but she wasn't stupid.

After the whole mission at the mansion and the hospital, Kazuha had talked to Ran and had learned the reason of her friend's sadness.

Kazuha still couldn't believe that Kudo had left Ran for another girl. Her green eyes left her friend and averted to the other girl in the room.

The blonde was looking at the window and outside at the garden. Kazuha looked at her.

After all that had been said, she didn't know what to think of Miyano. Was she trustworthy?

Kudo trusted her and so did Ikeda and Kazama. But Heiji didn't and even though she thought he was the greatest ahou on the planet, she had to give his intuitions some credit...

She had been in the Black Organisation, she had created pills that had killed people. What exactly did Kudo see in her that Ran didn't have? Kazuha's eyes lingered on Shiho's figure. The chemist seemed to be oblivious to the scrutiny she was going through.

Well... she was quite beautiful, she couldn't lie on that. She studied the blonde: slim figure, pale complexion, light blue eyes and reddish-blonde hair that framed her face.

Were all ainokos this attractive or was she a particular case?

But, then again, Ran was very pretty too. Kazuha was sure that Kudo was not the sort of shallow guy that would be attracted by a girl just for her good looks. Heiji wasn't this type of person and being his friend and having similar characteristics to him, Kudo wasn't one either.

Then what....?

"I suppose you have questions that need answers..."

Kazuha almost jumped in her seat as Shiho spoke and darted her out of her thoughts; so did Ran who abruptly looked up.

The young chemist was looking straight at her.

"What..?" Ran muttered.

Shiho leaned against the back of her armchair.

"You heard what Shinichi had to say but it isn't enough for you." she replied, "You want to know more and I think that I can give you some answers."

Her tone was calm, collected and even. Kazuha felt slightly intimidated by her. She looked at Ran, wondering if she has been affected likewise but the brunette was sitting straight, her head high and looking quite determined.

Kazuha wished to be anywhere but there again.

This was a sort of... confrontation between Ran and Miyano. What exactly was _she_ doing there?

She was going to stand up, saying that she was going to leave when Ran spoke.

"Why him?"

Kazuha stared at her. Shiho, on the other hand, looked at her evenly.

"I mean... why did you choose him to get help?" Ran reformulated, realising that her question had been ambiguous. "Why did you choose to come to him once you escaped?"

The blonde looked at her; it seemed that was pondering over the answer. Kazuha thought that this was the perfect moment to get out.

"Er-" she stood awkwardly, making both the other girls look at her, "I'd better... er- go."

"You can stay if you wish." Shiho replied off-handedly, averting her gaze back to Ran.

"Yes, Kazuha-chan, I don't mind having you here either." the brunette replied with a small smile.

That obliged the Osakan to sit down again. Escape plan 1 failed.

Silence fell in the room. Muffled sounds from above informed them that the conversation going on upstairs was quite.. vivacious.

"He was the first name that came into my mind." Shiho stated slowly, "I didn't have anyone outside or inside the Organisation once Akemi was gone, so I thought that I could ask for help to the only other person, besides me, that must have undergone to the APTX's side effect."

"But you couldn't be sure..?" Ran pressed on.

"No." Shiho cut through her query, "I wasn't absolutely sure that Shinichi was alive. I had hints that he might have shrunk. Besides.. I was also.. curious."

"Curious?" The blank look on Ran's face mirrored Kazuha's one.

Shiho looked at both as a shadow of a smile made its way on her face.

"It will sound pretty strange to you but I really wanted to see if he had truly shrunk due to the drug that I had created." she remarked, "As a scientist, it would have meant a lot to me. The APTX was a project that my parents had started and that I had overtook, developed and concluded during great part of my life. The fact that it had such a side-effect and that there was a person -well, people actually, since I had shrunk too- that had undergone to that effect piqued my interest."

Noticing the looks on the two brunettes' face, Shiho shrugged.

"I suppose that it's the scientist's particularity. Rei and Ryu understood when I told them. You're both athletes so, maybe, a similar thing could happen to you if witnessed one of your attack or defense moves performed in a different way or more efficiently or modified in a way you didn't know or think of before."

Ran and Kazuha nodded in unison, understanding perfectly.

"But that wasn't the only reason." Shiho's eyes clouded ever so slightly. "I wanted to see Shinichi because he was the last person to have seen Akemi, my sister, alive."

Ran's eyes widened recalling that the girl she knew as Masami Hirota was, instead, Akemi Miyano. A shiver ran down the girl's spine as she remembered that day of nearly a year ago when she ran after Conan's tracks and found him standing by the young woman's corpse.

"I had seen Akemi that afternoon and she told me of a little boy that often came to the bank where she was currently employed. She told me about his sharp remarks, quick intelligence and his rather adult-like behaviour. She said that his name was Conan Edogawa."

Kazuha inhaled sharply, not yet used to the fact that the little bespectacled boy she knew was the same teenage boy that was upstairs with Heiji. Ran felt a painful sting in her heart.

Shiho's glance swept over them before going to the window. Her voice was even but she couldn't control the pain that her eyes could express.

"When I was told that Akemi had died, I found a newspaper and saw her photograph. You were there, Mouri-san, and next to you was..."

Ran remembered it. She had broken down in tears at the sight of Masami's body and had hugged Conan, leaning on his little body from behind for support. The boy was numb. Blood soaked his hands and his eyes, averted to the ground, were hidden behind his fringe and his large glasses.

"Conan-kun." Ran whispered. Shiho nodded.

"It didn't take me much time to realise that the little boy had to be Shinichi Kudo and that he had indeed shrunk." Shiho looked at her and Ran stared back. The blond didn't avert her gaze as she went on speaking. "I have already told you what happened afterwards, how I escaped and how I arrived here."

"And you met that night?" Ran asked.

"No, we met at Teitan Elementary School a couple of days after." Shiho replied as a faint smile made it's way on her face. "I didn't let him understand that I was in his same situation and behaved as a common child before exposing myself when we were alone and giving him quite a fright.."

"You've always known everything about him, didn't you?" Ran asked, unable to hide the pain in her voice completely . "And.. he about you?"

Shiho looked at her.

"Mouri-san, I think that you're misunderstanding how the situation was." she remarked. "Despite the common ground of having shrunk due to the APTX, neither of us were very glad to know each other. I can honestly say that our mutual feelings at our first meeting went from anger to distrust."

Ran looked at her.

"But that was just at the beginning.." she pressed on, "You got over that later. I saw how you two behaved with each other."

"Well, yes." Shiho said, eyes fixed on Ran. "Shortly after our meeting, we understood that we could trust each other."

As the two kept staring at each other, Kazuha fidgeted nervously, realising that the conversation was heading to places that she definitely didn't want to go. Without any further ago, the Osakan teen stood up, startling Ran and making Shiho look at her in mild surprise.

"I.. er- have to... er- the restroom." she mumbled, before dashing outside the door and up the stairs.

Ran failed to hide a smile as her friend ran out of the room. She heard a soft chuckle and turned around, mildly surprised to see Shiho smiling.

"You have a good friend, Mouri-san." the blonde stated, looking at her. Ran detected a hint of sadness in her voice that she couldn't understand.

"I know." she replied, "I suppose that Ikeda-san would have done the same thing."

"Yes, I'm sure of it.. Rei would have left us alone too."

"Miyano-san, you didn't answer my question."

"I knew most of him and he knew most of me. We found solace in each other's presence because only the two of us could understand how it felt to be trapped in the body of a seven year old child." Shiho sighed softly. "It took us some time to trust each other... He accused me of his condition while I accused him of my sister's death."

Ran, who was looking at her hands as she spoke, looked up abruptly.

"What?"

"My pain was still too raw while his anger and frustration had been bottled up for too long. We vented our feelings on each other that very day that we met." Shiho said slowly, "As I said, we began to trust each other and the feeling grew in the following months. We still held some minor grudge against each other: he didn't understand my secrecy while I couldn't understand his recklessness but nevertheless, we got along."

"And.. you fell in love with each other."

Shiho looked at Ran and shook her head.

"He loved you." she said and the dark haired girl looked at her with wide eyes. "He never said it aloud but you had to be blind not to see it. This, added to his shrunken state, just added more guilt to my already guilt ridden conscience. I hadn't only ruined his life with my drug but I had also ruined yours."

Ran didn't reply and just kept looking at her. She couldn't ignore, however, the waves of pain caressing her heart.

"Despite what I had done, he accepted me. He helped me when I was in need: he saved my life more than once." Shiho's mind was a flood of memories. She glanced at Ran. "You saved my life once, too."

"I had to do it." Ran replied, recalling the trip in Jodie-sensei's car trunk and all the worries that had plagued her mind after having seen the photos behind her teacher's bathroom cabinet's mirror. "You were in danger."

"You reminded me of my sister that night."

"What?" Ran asked in surprise.

"You remind me of Akemi in many ways. Your appearance and even your character are like hers." Shiho smiled slightly. "That was one of the main reasons of my behaviour towards you at the beginning."

Ran remembered when they had first met, during an outing at the beach. She remembered Ai's distant attitude.

"You didn't want to talk to me because I looked like your sister?" she asked.

"Partially." Shiho admitted, "I was a bit unsure of being on speaking terms with you because of your role in Shinichi's life."

"So... you were jealous?"

"At the time, I attributed my hesitance to guilt and also cowardice but, thinking it over, I suppose that jealousy must have played a good part too."

"You were already in love with him back then?"

Shiho looked at her for a moment before running a hand through her hair. Ran noticed the lines of bandages around her upper body through her blouse. She recalled her blood soaked state back at the mansion. She remembered Shinichi's despair at the hospital.

"I honestly don't know when it happened." the blonde replied, "But somewhere along the line, when I started to trust him more, day after day, I realised that what I had thought was friendship had turned into something much deeper." Shiho looked at Ran. "I was sure that I would never have a chance. Not when you were still so present in his heart."

Ran didn't know what to say.

"I never did anything to make him notice either. I thought that I shouldn't... couldn't afford that much of attention and care from him; what I had done was more than enough for him to hate me but he didn't. He accepted me. He befriended me; he was the first person, besides my sister, that I trusted and he trusted me back. Being by his side as a friend was sufficient for me. I couldn't hope for more and was content with it." Shiho's eyes met Ran's. "I didn't dare to think of loosing his friendship."

Ran stared at the blonde girl in front of her and her mind went back to her conversation with Shinichi, months ago, when he invited her to a bar to have a talk after so long.

The day he said that he loved another girl.

'He said that he didn't know if she loved him back and he didn't want to confess to her because he was scared of ruining their friendship..' she thought, 'She did the same...'

"You love him a lot." she stated.

"So do you." Shiho said.

"He loves you."

"He loved you and still does."

"But not in the same way I do."

"Yes, it's different but it's just as strong."

"Why are you doing this?" Ran sat up and looked at Shiho in confusion and also hurt anger. "He loves you! He told me so more than once!"

Shiho looked at her; her eyes held a glint of empathy that Ran noticed immediately.

"That doesn't mean that he doesn't care for you." she remarked, "He loves you and I know that he always will. You are a big part of his life and I would be a hypocrite, or blind, to suppose that his feelings for you have disappeared or that he will forget you."

Ran felt an unbidden tear roll down her face but hastily wiped it off. She didn't want to cry. She had come here to get answers and to, finally, decide what to do with her heart.

Shiho smiled slightly at her. She rested her elbow on the arm of her seat and laid her chin on her open palm. The empathy in her eyes was still there.

"I'm not here to tell you that I love Shinichi because those feelings are my own and it's up to me to show them openly." she said softly, "I'm not here to claim that he is only mine because he's not. There is too much good in him to be directed to just one person.

You have known Shinichi for sixteen years. You are his childhood friend and you have always been by his side. I think that you must have had some influence on him, more than his family and friends, to make him become what he is now.

He is like.. a ray of light: luminous, warm and daring to break through the darkness. Being near his presence is enough to bask in that positive emotions.

I'll never be grateful enough for having met him.

He reached out to me, despite my upbringing and despite my creations because he knew that I wasn't like the other members of the Organisation. I had some good in me because I had had Akemi; if she hadn't been there, I doubt that I'd be here now, talking to you. I would have fallen in the Organisation's clutches without any hope of escaping."

Ran couldn't break her eye contact with Shiho as the blonde talked.

"I have known Shinichi for a year and it was the most topsy-turvy year of his life. I was by his side while you couldn't but not by your choice. He chose to let you out and he did it for your safety. You know his character: he would never endanger the people around him, even less those he loves.

I saw him witness the cruelty of the Organisation. You must have noticed that this experience has changed him."

"Yes." Ran whispered. She saw how the whole Organisation ordeal had changed Shinichi.

"As he changed after seeing what was my world, I began to change when he took me into his world. A place where laughter and happiness reigned along with friendship and family and love."

"You have changed a lot too." Ran remarked, "You're different from the Ai I remember."

Shiho just smiled slightly.

"I never had friends before meeting Shinichi. He and the three children were the first ones I had. With Hakase, I learned the meaning of being at home. With Rei and Ryu, the meaning of having a family." Shiho looked at Ran. "I often think that fate has had a great time, playing with me."

"Fate?" Ran asked in confusion.

"It was fate that brought Akemi to Ryu for help; fate that the drug I created didn't kill me; fate that I had to meet Rei, Ryu and Kid who were victims of the Organisation just like me and fate that I had to fall in love with Shinichi while he was already in love."

"It was also fate that he would fall in love with you then." Ran remarked.

"It could be.. We could ask Shinichi but.. it might be possible that he can't give an answer. He tends to be incredibly dense when it come to feelings."

Ran couldn't help it: a soft giggle escaped her lips. Shiho laughed softly. The dark haired girl looked at the blonde one.

"I know why you're doing this." she said. Shiho just looked at her, hand still cradling her chin. "You want me to talk to him and forgive him. You want me to keep our friendship alive."

"That's up to you, Mouri-san. I just told you what you wanted to know."

"And that is?"

"The truth. If there's a thing Shinichi has taught me, it's that truth prevails over anything. There is no reason to lie or make things up. You deserve the truth."

Ran nodded and looked up at her.

"You know, when he first told me that he loved you, I... I hated you."

"Quite understandable."

"But I didn't give up. I kept hoping that he would come back. In the following months, after you came to school, I saw that your relationship was strong but I still held hope.

It wasn't till that day in the forest when you decided to give yourself and then at the hospital that I realised that I couldn't hope anymore. He was yours, his heart belonged to you."

Shiho just kept her eyes on Ran without saying anything.

"Besides.. you love him.. your heart belongs to him. I heard that you got hurt to protect him, right? You wouldn't have done that if you didn't love him."

Shiho nodded and Ran smiled because she saw a faint blush colour her cheeks.

"Were you really willing to stay by his side as friend even though he loved another?"

"Yes."

"You are very strong, Miyano-san."

"Not unlike you. Weren't you willing to wait for him, Mouri-san?"

"Yes.. but it..."

"It was worth it."

"Yes, he's worth it."

"Yes."

The two girls looked at each other and smiled. They heard noise from above: the sound of scraping chairs.

"They must have finished." Shiho remarked, looking up.

"Miyano-san?" The blonde turned to Ran. "What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know." she said, "I never really gave much thought to the future. I will wait for Rei and Ryu to return and see what to do."

"I see.."

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

"What are _you_ going to do?"

"I need some time.." Ran brushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. "I hope that I will do the right thing eventually."

"You will." Shiho assured her and Ran smiled slightly.

The sound of footsteps made them stand up. Ran was halfway to the door when she turned around to Shiho. The chemist had stood up slowly and walked to the door on her crutches.

--

Kazuha was standing by the living room door: she had been pacing around, looking at the pictures on the tables in the hall and the paintings on the walls. She turned at the sound of footsteps.

Heiji walked down the stairs followed by Kudo. Her friend had his cap low on his eyes and this worried her a bit. He usually did that when he was upset.

The boys had barely reached the end of the staircase that Ran came out, slowly followed by Miyano. The two girls looked quite calm. Kazuha couldn't quite meet Ran's stare without blushing a bit. She had tried not to overhear the conversation but she had heard them nevertheless; the house had been so silent that their voices trailed to her clearly.

Miyano looked at her and, for a moment, Kazuha thought that she knew that she had overheard their conversation. A blush made its way on her face.

The blonde however, merely smiled and slowly went to the staircase. As she walked past Kazuha, she whispered something so softly that the Osakan had to strain to hear her.

"You could have stayed." Shiho said, "We wouldn't have minded and you would have been more comfortable."

Kazuha didn't reply but just looked at her retreating back as she made her way to the stairs with her crutches. Heiji walked past her, not before casting her a glance. Shiho could see a mixture of emotions in the Western detective's eyes; she wondered how much Shinichi had told him.

The Eastern detective smiled at her.

"You're all right?" he asked as she stepped up to him.

"Yes." she replied, barely avoiding to roll her eyes. "I'll be in my room."

"Ok."

They shared a glance and a smile and Shinichi walked down while Shiho went up.

"So.." he said, facing the three teens in front of him. "Is there anything else I can do?"

Ran looked at him. Kazuha noticed it and decided for both her and Heiji.

"We should be going." she said, grasping Heiji's arm.

"What?" the boy exclaimed, looking down at her.

"Ran-chan, we'll wait for you outside." Kazuha said, ignoring her surprised childhood friend, "Bye, Kudo-san."

"Hope to see you soon, Toyama-san." Shinichi said with a smile, "Hattori." He added with a nod.

Heiji stared at him for a moment and then let out a soft sigh. He turned to the front door and lifted the brim of his cap a bit as his head turned back.

"See you, Kudo." he said with a grin. Shinichi smiled back and waved a hand.

As soon as the Osakan teens were out of the house, Shinichi turned to Ran.

"Ran."

The girl looked at him.

"What else should I tell you?" he asked. She could feel guilt in his voice. Again.

"First of all, stop doing that." she said firmly.

"What?"

"Stop feeling guilty. Stop thinking that everything that has happened is your fault. Although, a bit of it could be."

Shinichi opened his mouth to retort but shut it close when he noticed a glint of mirth in her eyes. He smiled slightly.

"I hid many things to you, Hattori and many other people. You would have every right to hate me."

"Yes.. but then we'd realise that you did it for our safety and it would be up to us to forgive you or not."

"You talked with Shiho."

It wasn't a question and Ran nodded.

"She.. she's a good person." she stated.

"I know."

"And she knows you quite well."

"I know and it's a bit scary at times.." Shinichi leaned on the staircase banister. "She seems to just read me through.."

"And you?"

"Me? I'm just learning to reach her."

Ran looked at him and sighed softly.

"She wants me to forgive you. She wants our friendship to continue."

"I'd hope that too.. but I couldn't bring myself to ask you."

"That's why she asked me instead." Ran smiled slightly. "She knew what you wanted."

"Hmm." Shinichi looked at her. "What will you do, Ran?"

The girl stayed silent for a couple of moments.

"I realised that this year has changed you a lot." she replied, "You have gone through things that I can barely imagine and met people that could understand you. I have changed a bit too but not as much as you. I realised that if you had told me the truth back then, I might have stopped you."

"You'd have done it because you were worried for me."

"Nevertheless, I wouldn't have understood your reasons while Miyano-san does."

Another tear ran down her face. Shinichi straightened up abruptly as Ran wiped it away hastily.

"Ran..." he said, taking a step forward but stopped as she put out her hand, stopping him.

"Shinichi, I need some time." she said, her voice firm despite the brightness in her eyes. "I care for our friendship just as much as you do but.. my feelings..." She took a deep breath. "I know the truth.

You want her like I want you. You love her, like I love you. The only difference is that she loves you back, the same way... and you deserve that. I know you do. And I'm not going to be the one who stands in the way of you getting that... You're free, you can do whatever you want.

As a friend I should accept it but my heart...."

Ran exhaled. Shinichi looked at her: he couldn't help but feel sad and guilty for doing this to her.

"I'm sorry." he whispered.

"Don't be." she replied softly, "I'll move on.. It will just take time."

She looked at him and saw the emotion in his eyes. It was rare for him to express his feelings so openly but she could clearly see the sadness and pain in his usually clear blue eyes. It made her heart constrict because it meant that he cared. She knew he did.

"You often had that look on your face when you were Conan." she remarked.

"What?" he asked in surprise.

"You were always happy and childish but from time to time, you'd have that melancholic and sad look on your face." She smiled softly. "It must have been hard for you to lie in that way."

"It was hard to see you suffer." he replied. "I really wanted to tell that I was there but I couldn't. I tried my best to help you as.. Conan."

"I know." Ran looked at him and smiled. "Thank you."

Shinichi smiled and shook his head.

"I'd better be going." she said, "Kazuha-chan and Hattori-kun have waited enough."

"All right."

They looked at each and smiled slightly.

"See you, Shinichi."

"See you, Ran."

He walked her to the door and watched as she joined the two Osakan teens standing by the entrance. She looked back once and waved a hand. He waved back and closed the door. He swept a hand through his hair and walked back to his room.

He was surprised to find Shiho standing by his door.

"I thought you went to rest." he said, getting closer to her.

"In a minute." she replied and looked a him curiously. "What did you say to Hattori?"

"The truth. He has to decide what to do with it though." He leaned on the wall next to her. "What did you tell Ran?"

"The truth." She smiled at him as she copied his answer. "And I know that she will make the right decision."

"She mentioned something about it. I think I have to thank you, Shiho."

"Wait till she decides." Shiho stood up slowly and headed to her room. "She's very strong."

"I know."

"I wish I had half of her strength..."

Shinichi looked at her in puzzlement but she just shrugged.

"See you later." she said and closed the door of her room behind her.

As she walked to her bed, Shiho kept thinking of Ran.

'She would have waited for him.' she thought, 'She would have undergone the suffering of being apart for an indeterminate time as long as she had the hope that he would return and, maybe, love her back. I'm not so strong... I could put away my feelings for him but I'm not selfless enough to stay away from him. I need him next to me. His presence is my hope.'

She slowly laid down on her bed, hearing Shinichi's footsteps and fell asleep.

--

Shinichi watched Shiho's closed door for a moment and then went into his room. He was going to rest a bit himself when he heard the phone ring.

He quickly made his way downstairs and grabbed the receiver.

"Hello?"

"_Shinichi_."

"Oh, hi Dad." the boy replied, recognising his father's voice.

"_I gathered the information you wanted_."

The young detective stood straighter and listened.

"I understand... I'll call you when I want to confirm everything, all right?"

"_Yes. I'll wait for your call. Oh, your mother is quite excited about it._"

"I know.. Tell her I said hi. Hear you soon, Dad."

"_Bye, son_."

As he put down the receiver, Shinichi exhaled.

He had been thinking of his future in these days: he had wondered what he would do now. This and the thought of an eventual separation from Shiho, Rei and Ryu had made him ponder.

He had come up with an idea but it needed a great deal of preparation. He had informed his father of it and had asked for some help.

He had the information now and he would wait Ryu and Rei's return to take the final decision.

It was all a question of time..

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Heiji waited with Kazuha for Ran's arrival, before heading to the Mouri agency. He brooded over Kudo's words, trying to grasp the full meaning of them.

He had told him everything. From the moment he met Haibara to the end when he, Kazama, Ikeda and Miyano had come back home from the hospital and the trials.

Heiji had been wrong.

Kudo trusted him. A lot. He trusted him to the point that if something had gone wrong, _very_ wrong, it would have been him, Heiji, to carry on his work.

Kudo didn't think that their friendship was a fake. He cared for him enough to protect him at distance, calling him in his aid only when the situation was safe, at least for him.

And Kudo knew him really well. He didn't say anything about Miyano because he knew that he would have been brash with her. He knew how Heiji would have reacted. It would have been like his own reaction.

They were both similar after all.

Heiji realised that he just knew a small part of Shinichi Kudo. The Kudo he had met and got to know was the one trapped in the body of Conan Edogawa.

He didn't know much of the seventeen year old boy but today he got to know a good part of him.

Kudo was a brilliant detective just like him and they both shared the immense passion to truth and justice. But Kudo had seen a part of their work that he hadn't yet seen. Heiji hoped not to see it ever.

Kudo had gone through a lot and had felt the evil on his skin. He had lived it. Just like Kazama, Ikeda and Miyano.

Heiji had read the reports regarding them and had wondered how they could have found the strength to go on and fight.

Kazama had witnessed the death of his family and had lost everything. Yet he created the plan to bring down the Organisation, he infiltrated in it, was called a traitor by FBI and was hunted by both the organisations. But he didn't give up: he fought till the end.

Ikeda had lost her parents. She studied to gain the knowledge she needed to find their murderers, joined FBI, feigned her death when the Organisation was after her and let all the people she knew think she was dead. And she fought on.

Miyano lost her parents and sister. She had grown in the Organisation but had not been corrupted. She betrayed them and risked her life more than once. Yet she continued to work on the antidote and helped bring them down.

The thirst of revenge couldn't fuel this actions. It wasn't enough.

Kudo said that despite the anger, despair and firm conviction to bring down the people that had hurt them, Kazama, Ikeda and Miyano also had a strong sense of justice inside them.

The good in them helped them go on.

Kudo's words had been enlightening.

"We detectives work so hard on our cases because we want to live in a better world. With more goodness and less evil. It's a our hidden hope that with our help, this will occur. For Ryu, Rei and Shiho, it's the same. They want to live in a better place, a place that has been taken away from them and that they desperately try to get back. It's their hope.  
Aren't we all the same after all?"

Heiji sighed.

No bad person would work this hard just for justice. No bad person would put his life on stake just for the hope of a better life.

He had been wrong. He had judged too early.

Kudo had been right to wait to let him know everything.

"Ran-chan!"

Heiji looked up as Kazuha called. Ran was walking towards them.

"Shall we go?" she said, once she was near. He nodded with Kazuha.

Heiji glanced at Ran. She was calm, a small smile was on her face as she walked next to Kazuha.

Kudo cared for her. Heiji had seen it when he spoke of her but he clearly cared more for Miyano.

"Are you all right, Ran-san?" he asked.

Kazuha shot him a look before turning to Ran.

"Yes." she replied with a smile. "I just need.. time."

"Hmm.. me too.."

"What?" Kazuha asked, looking at him in confusion.

Heiji was walking a few steps in front of them. He turned his head, tipping his cap up. And he smiled at her. Kazuha fought back a blush.

"Kudo is a great detective." he said, "I still have a couple of things to learn."

Ran smiled as he said this.

Kazuha looked at him and then at her.

"What did he mean?" she asked.

"Shinichi trusts him and me a lot." Ran replied, "I think that we just need some time to trust him just as much."

Kazuha stared at her.

"You are very strong, Ran-chan."

"Not as much as her."

"That's not true."

"It is. You heard her." Ran smiled kindly as the other girl blushed. "I wouldn't go to the extents of her love. She is truly stronger than I am."

Kazuha didn't reply and just walked along with her.

When they reached the agency, Heiji and Kazuha got on the motorcycle and went back to Osaka. Ran waved them goodbye and went inside her house. Her father hadn't yet come.

She went into her room and sat on her bed.

It would take time but she knew that she would be all right again. Her pain would lessen and her heart would stop aching.

'Miyano would have let him go and would have moved on as long as he was happy. She would have lived by his side a friend rather than loosing him.' Ran thought, lying on her bed, 'I'm not that strong. I can't give up on him that selflessly...'

Tears trickled down and she covered her face with a hand.

Time would tell...

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Rei walked over to the window and saw that it had stopped snowing.

She was at the Xanders' house and had spent the afternoon with Ryu and talking with Mrs. Xanders. Since the weather had gotten better, she realised that she should head back home before it started to snow again.

Ryu had gone to the kitchen to get some drinks and a plate of homemade cookies that his adoptive mother had made for Rei's arrival.

Rei walked around the room, looking at the books lined up on the shelves: scientific books of Engineering, Mechanics and Computer Science were crammed together with the novels of Conan Doyle.

She smiled. It just showed all of Ryu's interests.

As she walked to the bed, she caught a glimpse of her reflection on the window panel.

After the fire at the mansion, she had had to trim her hair since it had burnt a bit. She twisted a lock of her dark brown hair around her index finger, frowning slightly.

"You look wonderful, don't worry."

Rei whipped around, blushing. Ryu came into the room, holding a tray with two glasses of juice and a plate of cookies on it. He smiled at her and put the tray on his desk.

"Don't do that." Rei complained, sitting on the bed with a sigh. "I didn't hear you."

"Oh, I noticed." he said with chuckle and went to close the door.

Rei looked at him. He had healed from all his injuries and wasn't wearing bandages anymore, unlike her with the cast on her hand. As he closed the door, Rei noticed something that she had more than once noticed in the past weeks.

"Ryu?"

He turned around and she felt her heart leap pleasantly.

He was smiling. His calm smile was always on his face but now it's warmth fully reached his eyes. His shoulders were held straight but they were less tense and his gait was more...

"What?" he asked in puzzlement, smile still present.

"Er- nothing.. it's just that.."

He approached her and knelt before her.

"Rei.."

"You look different."

"Do I?" he asked. "Must be the haircut." He raked a hand through his blond hair. "I snipped off the burnt locks on my own and I don't think I did a great job. Matt says that I look like a rocker."

Rei laughed softly and ran her good hand through his blond strands; they stood out a bit more than usual, looking like a series of blonde jags here and there.

"No, you look good." she remarked, brushing a random strand out of his eyes, "I wanted to say that you look more relaxed now."

"I am." he replied, taking a lock of her hair in his hand. She had cut them down to her shoulders and had cut her fringe shorter so that it fell just over her eyes. He let it go and watched as it fell back in a smooth wave. "Why? Aren't you?"

"Yes but I can see the difference in you."

Ryu smiled and leaned into her until their foreheads touched.

"I feel as though a huge burden has been taken off my shoulders." he breathed, "It's been a long time that I've felt like this. I'm really realising that the Organisation is gone."

Rei smiled back at him.

"You know, I 've been thinking of our conversation of this morning." he remarked.

"Really?" she said, gazing into his light blue eyes.

"Hmm. I thought it over and realised that I'd like to start over from a blank page."

"What?" Rei looked at him in confusion. "Start over in which sense?"

"Well, I did what I had to do with the Organisation and now it's gone; I've closed a large chapter of my life. And now I'm wondering what to do with myself." Rei nodded in agreement and he went on. "I have no complaints about my love life-"

"Good to know." Rei said with a smile and he smiled back.

"-but, professionally speaking, I want to start something new. I have my abilities, my knowledge and my experience: I think it's time for me to use them for myself."

Rei leaned back and looked at him.

"Are you going to accept one of those job offers?" she asked.

"I don't know." Ryu said with a shrug, "I've just made up my mind on the subject." He looked at her. "What about you?"

"I thought about it and I would like to have a fresh start again." she admitted, "And I keep thinking that those offers are tempting but.." She smiled almost embarrassedly. "I can't stop hoping that something might pop out and make you, Shiho, Shinichi and me work together again." She blushed slightly. "Am I too naive to think this?"

Ryu leaned up and kissed her softly. He felt her smile in their kiss.

"No." he said with a smile as he leaned back, "I keep hoping that too. Who knows?"

"Yes, who knows?" Rei echoed leaning against Ryu's head, her nose buried in his hair.

He arched a brow when he felt her giggle, shoulders trembling slightly with mirth.

"What?" he asked, looking at her. She didn't answer but leaned down till her face was at the crook of his neck. He caught a waft of her scent, some flowery thing that his suddenly slow brain couldn't identify. He swallowed on nothing when he felt her nose brush against his throat.

"Rei?" he said, hoping that his voice was steady.

"You smell sweet." she whispered in his ear. Ryu felt his throat go dry: did she know how she effected him when she used that soft tone of voice?

"Ah, really?" he said lamely. "It's probably Aunt Yurie's fault. The kitchen's been turned into a bakery. Stay there a couple of minutes and you'll feel as though you had fallen in the cookie dough."

"Hmm." she replied, her breath tickling his skin. She leaned back and looked at him. "You're quite red on the face." she stated innocently.

"And you're quite the teaser." he retorted, standing up.

She laughed and got up.

"By the way, I think I'll be going in a while." she said, stretching her arms above her head. "It stopped snowing."

"No, you can't." Ryu retorted, walking to his desk "You're invited for dinner. Aunt Yurie said so."

"I can't do that! It'd be the third time in a row."

"Come on.."

"I feel as though I'm taking advantage of the situation."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous." Ryu waved a hand at her as though shooing away her worries. "Aunt Yurie adores you: she's more than happy to have you around." He leaned on the desk and helped himself to a cookie. "By the way, I think Chris should be over here too. I overheard Matt's call saying that they should be here in a while."

"How's he doing with all the side work?" Rei asked, taking a cookie herself.

After recovering from his injuries, Matt had got back to work along with Chris and Lucas. They had loads of material to work out, going from laptops to huge archives. So while the FBI inspectors were busy dealing with all the unsolved crimes linked to the Organisation, Matt worked on that material.

Ryu and Rei couldn't help him because they were still recovering from their injuries and had been going through an inquiry. Matt had been very vocal about this but, nevertheless, he always told them what he discovered despite his seniors' orders.

"He's currently working on the material taken from the Bay of Tokyo." Ryu remarked, taking a sip of juice, "Oh, I forgot to tell you this! Remember the laptop that they had found in the American headquarter? The one that received notices about the actions in Japan?"

"Yes. Wasn't it thanks to it that Matt and FBI flew down to Japan and saved us from being killed?"

"Exactly. That laptop had a processor that was linked to _Koizumi's_ personal computer."

"Koizumi?! How..?"

"Matt thinks that he kept some sort of journal, a place where he wrote all the Organisation's activities." Ryu looked at her. "But the best part still has to come.. Guess who was the owner of that laptop?"

Rei shrugged.

"Scotch."

"What?!" Rei exclaimed, "_That_ Scotch?"

"Yes. The one that nearly killed us in Japan. Being a High member, he must have known who the Boss was and -this is Matt's theory- he must have put the processor in Koizumi's computer to see what he was up to."

"You know, knowing how Scotch was, I'm not surprised at all." Rei remarked, "That ambitious.."

"Yeah..." Ryu confirmed, "Trust him to put a stunt like that.. but you know, I never thought that I'd have to be grateful to that murderer's ambition."

"To think that he's the reason that the Japanese headquarter has fallen.."

"I'd have loved to see his face if he had known.." Ryu remarked. "It would have been so... gratifying."

Rei looked at him and saw that his shoulders were tense again.

"Ryu.." she said, putting a hand on his right shoulder. He looked at her. "It's over."

He relaxed instantly and smiled at her. He took her hand from his shoulder and brushed his lips on her fingers.

Rei blushed softly, loving his tenderness.

They heard the front door open and close with a loud thud and then Matt's voice.

"Let's go." Rei said, curling her fingers around his hand.

"Ok." said Ryu, returning the pressure.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shinichi was in the living room.

He had dinner with Shiho and Hakase and was going to go to bed in a while. The girl was currently talking with the old scientist in the kitchen. Sensing that it had to be a private talk, Shinichi had excused himself and had gotten out of the room.

He was absently flipping through the pages of his battered copy of _A Study in Scarlet_ when Agase came to the living room's door.

"Shinichi-kun, I'm leaving." he said, "Are you sure you don't need anything?"

"No, thanks Hakase." he replied, getting up from the couch, "I'll call if we do, though."

"Of course."

"Where's Shiho?"

"In the studio. She said she had to take something." He looked suddenly troubled as though expecting the boy to question him about the talk with Shiho.

"Oh, I see." Shinichi said and then grinned at the man. "At what time will you be coming tomorrow?"

Hakase relaxed instantly.

"The usual." he said cheerfully, "Well, goodnight, Shinichi-kun."

"Night, Agase."

He watched the man walk to the door, shut it behind his back and heard the lock go on. Agase still had the spare keys that his parents had given him more than ten years ago.

Seeing the door of the studio ajar, he strolled to it and stopped at the threshold.

Shiho was standing by her and Rei's desk; he noticed that she was holding a couple of thick notebooks.

Frowning slightly, he approached her.

"Shiho?"

She looked up at him and smiled slightly.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I was wondering if you could help me." she said in reply.

"Sure. What should I do?"

"Could you light a fire in the fireplace?"

Shinichi arched a brow at her unusual request.

"May I ask why?"

"You will understand."

Knowing that coaxing her wouldn't bring him anywhere, and definitely not to the answer, Shinichi went into the living room and worked on the fireplace. It was on the far corner of the living room, next to the dining table.

He was glad that there were still some sticks and a small log in the box near the fireplace; he remembered that Ryu had filled it up after they had used the last batch during the Christmas vacations. Lighting a matchstick and using some old newspapers, he managed to build a small fire.

As soon as he was satisfied by his work and was sure that the sparks wouldn't burn the floor boards, he stood up to find Shiho. He didn't have to go far: she was right by the door.

She approached him slowly, her crutches hitting the floor softly, and stood next to him. She was still holding the notebooks.

Shinichi stood in silence by her side, watching the flames dance in the fireplace and listening to the wood crackling as it burnt. He glanced at her and saw that she was staring intensively at the notes in her hand.

"Hey." he said, brushing his fingers against her cheek. She looked up, blushing slightly at his contact.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

She looked at him, light blue eyes boring right through him. Balancing herself on her crutches, she handed him one of the notebooks.

He took it and absently flipped through the pages. It was full of calculations, formulas and notes written in Shiho's neat handwriting.

"That's all the necessary information to make the antidote to the APTX-4869." Shiho said suddenly.

Shinichi almost dropped the notebook and turned to her.

"What?"

Shiho held up the notebook that she had in her hand.

"This one has all the information to create the APTX-4869."

Finally, Shinichi understood what she wanted to do.

"I thought that you had cancelled all the data already." he remarked, looking at her.

"Rei cancelled all the data out of the Organisation's archives, files and disks." Shiho replied, "Ryu cancelled all the traces of the data so that no backup could retrieve them. I destroyed all the floppy disks and Cd-Roms with Agase some days ago. The last data are this." She gestured to the notebooks. "It's the information I got gathering all the data I found; it's the final research of the APTX-4869. I thought that you would want to help me get rid of it."

Shinichi nodded.

Very few people knew of the drug and it's shrinking effect but only the original MYSTERY team knew of the data that explained how to create it.

And now it would be cancelled forever.

"Ready?" he said, looking at her.

"At the count of three." she replied, looking back.

"One.."

"Two.."

"Three."

They tossed the notebooks into the fire.

Shiho watched the flames engulf the thick wads of paper and felt strangely relieved.

APTX-4869 had been her parents' research.

It had been her working project during her whole life.

It had been her price to pay for freedom.

Freedom that came not thanks to it's development but thanks to a flaw in it.

She watched the pages shrivel at the borders and turn to ash. She saw the flames turn brighter around the notebooks.

Shiho felt Shinichi's arms gently wrap her waist from behind. She hadn't noticed him move and looked up at him.

He was smiling softly.

She smiled back, relaxing and leaning against him as she laid her crutches against the table.

They stayed in this position for a while, content in their silence.

"Shinichi?" Shiho said after a bit.

"Hmm." he replied.

"Have you ever wondered why we shrunk?"

He looked down at her in confusion.

"I thought you said that we were among the one over fifty cases that could undergo the counter-effect."

"Yes, but the reason, the scientific reason?"

"What is it? Did you find one?"

"Remember the blood samples I took after we had that narrow escape with Scotch?"

Shinichi nodded. Shiho had taken a small blood sample from him, Ryu, Rei and herself to be sure that the APTX's effect couldn't be passed through blood transfusions.

"I noticed that we had a particular genetic error. It's not a flaw that can cause illnesses but it has contributed to save our lives."

"We both have it?"

"Yes and it's also rare. But do you want to know the most amazing fact?"

"What?"

"Ryu and Rei have the same genetic error."

"You mean.."

"If they had taken the APTX, they would have probably shrunk too."

Shinichi shook his head in disbelief.

"Wow.." he said, "Fate really brought the four of us together."

"Hmm." she replied.

Shiho leaned more against Shinichi's body, allowing him to wrap his arms more around her.

"Are you tired?" he whispered, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"A bit." she replied, "You?" She cast a sideways glance at him.

"Me too. It's been a long day."

"Yes."

They watched the fireplace again. The notebooks were almost burnt to dust.

"Hakase is going to a science convention next Saturday." Shiho said after a while.

"Really?"

"He told me that a colleague of his has heard of me and wants to offer me a project to work on." Shiho moved slightly so that she could face Shinichi. "Agase thinks that with my competence in chemistry, I could receive many job offers."

"That would be good." he remarked.

She looked at him.

"Do you think so?" she asked. "After all the things that have been written on the papers, I don't know what people would think.."

"Don't worry, Shiho." Shinichi smiled reassuringly. "If Hakase knows them, they must be good people: people that judge your talent, not your history. Besides-" He swiftly kissed her temple. "-you don't have anything to worry about. You haven't done anything."

Shiho felt warmth envelope her as she looked into his clear blue eyes.

"You are incredibly optimistic." she stated.

He laughed lightly, earning a deadpanned look from her.

"What?" she asked.

"I thought that you'd say that I'm hopelessly naif." he said.

"It was understated."

"Very funny..."

Shiho chuckled softly.

"You know, I've been thinking a lot about what will happen from now on" Shinichi said, holding her closer to him.

"I have been thinking about it too."

"I would like to discuss about a matter with you, Rei and Ryu."

Shiho looked at him.

"What is it?" she asked.

"An idea that I have but it's still very vague..." He shrugged slightly. "I'd like some advice from all three of you."

"Oh, I see."

The fire was burning out now. There wasn't anything left of the notebooks.

"It's over.." Shiho whispered, "It really is all over."

Shinichi smiled and kissed her softly.

"Yes, it's really over."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two weeks later, Shiho's wounds healed completely and the doctors said that she could stop using crutches. Shinichi's head wound had long healed too.

After more than a month from the Organisation's fall, they could finally savour their newly acquired freedom. The reporters had stopped hassling them continuously and the guard had left.

Shinichi regretted his departure.

A couple of days after he had left, Kojima, his high school's soccer team captain came to the house and ranted for hours about the fact that he had lost two of his most valuable members before the interschool tournament. He didn't seem to understand that Ryu and Shinichi had had other matters in their hands, all more important than some football match. But this was Kojima we are speaking of: he values football more than anything...

Rei and Ryu had kept regularly in touch and had said that they would be coming back soon. They had been very busy with FBI and had also recovered completely from their injuries.

It was spring and the world was slowly moving on after the discovery of the Organisation. Normality was taking over again.

Shinichi and Shiho got up fully refreshed that morning and headed downstairs to have breakfast. Agase still had the habit to check on them and leave something ready to eat.

As they got downstairs, however, they got a pleasant surprise.

"Oi, you're late. Is this the time to have breakfast?"  
"Yes, didn't you wake up at the crack of dawn while we were here?"

Shiho and Shinichi's eyes widened.

"Rei! Ryu!"

The brown haired girl rushed forward and hugged Shiho who was smiling as she hugged her back. Ryu held out his hand to Shinichi who gripped it with a loud clap and grinned.

"When did you come back?" Shinichi asked as Rei gave him a hug.

"Early this morning." she replied, beaming at him. "We dropped at Hakase's for a while and then came here."

"You said that you'd be back at the end of the week." Shiho remarked as she hugged Ryu.

"Yes, I know but we finished our business earlier." he replied, "So we took the first plane back."

They all went into the kitchen, talking and laughing as they sat at the table and it felt as though nothing had changed.

It was the four of them again.

"So, tell us.." Shinichi said as he helped himself to some toast. "What have you been doing in the States?"

"Yes, you've been abroad for a month." Shiho added, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

Rei and Ryu shared a look.

"Well, we didn't do much actually.." Ryu said.

"Yes, we recovered from our injuries-" said Rei.

"-went through an inquiry with FBI."

"-showed that we were innocent."

"-helped Matt with the last material he had gathered from the Headquarters."

"-dealt with reporters that wanted to know more about the Organisation."

"And then we quit FBI." Rei and Ryu said together.

Shiho put down her cup of coffee. Shinichi dropped his toast. They both stared at their friends.

"You _what_?" they exclaimed.

Rei and Ryu smiled.

"We thought about it for a long time." Ryu explained, "We had both joined FBI because it had the means to get information about the Organisation. It is a rather selfish reason."

"We realised that now that the Organisation is gone, we had to think about ourselves." Rei said, "And what we really want to do is to go on with our professions as an engineer and as a computer scientist."

"So you just left?" Shinichi asked, "Like that?"

"Our seniors were a bit hard to convince." Ryu admitted, "I think they took our decision as a consequence of the inquiry; Matt and Uncle Mark didn't take it that well at the beginning-"

"_That's_ an understatement." Rei remarked dryly.

"-but after we explained our reasons, everyone accepted our decision."

"I see." Shiho stated. "But what are you going to do now?"

"We have received many job offers." Rei said, "Worldwide. We have ample choice."

"And this brings us to you guys." Ryu remarked, looking at Shiho and Shinichi. "What are you up to now?"

"Hakase knows some scientists that are willing to let me work with them in various projects concerning chemistry and pharmacology." Shiho said. "If they go well, I could get some other offers from foreign universities."

"Hmm." Ryu turned to Shinichi. "What about you?"

"Well, Inspector Megure said that I could get into the police forces if I wished and would gladly help me enter the Beika district department but-" Shinichi looked up. "-I have different plans."

"That are?" Rei asked with curiosity.

"I'm thinking of moving to LA and study Criminology at a college there." He looked up and saw that he had the others' complete attention. It was the first tme that he spoke of this. "I asked my father and he knows some people at the college there. I could apply and enter immediately if I wanted to."

"You're going to pursue your career as a detective." Shiho commented, sipping her coffee. "Why did you want our advice then?"

"Advice?" Ryu and Rei echoed.

"Well, I have an idea in mind." Shinichi started. "It's a thing that I've been pondering over in these weeks. I.. I think that the four of us work really well together: I saw it while we were dealing with the Organisation. We have many things in common and we're all specialised in one particular subject and that makes us a strong team."

The other three nodded as he said this. He was voicing their own musings.

"I think that it would be.. nice to keep working together. I mean, I can't imagine the four of us separated. I'd like the team.. the family.. to be unite."

Rei and Shiho smiled while Ryu nodded.

"What are you suggesting?" he asked.

"It's just an idea now..." Shinichi said quickly but excitedly. "I know that it would take a great deal of preparation but it could work.. It would be perfect for us.."

"Shinichi, just tell us, will you?" Shiho demanded. She knew that he could ramble for hours before coming to the point when he was talking of something that interested him.

"Yes." Rei agreed. "We all would like to keep working together." Shiho and Ryu nodded. "What is your idea?"

Shinichi stood up, hands on the table. He was smiling his trademark smile.

"What would think of opening a specialised detective agency?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*************

Koishi/Itoshi: I think it's the female/male word for love or sweetheart.

Ainoko: referred to a person with parents of different races. In Shiho's case: Japanese father and English mother.

*************

I'm back.

I'm sorry for this big, enormous delay. The year's been hectic and I personally found out that a writer's block is a really nasty piece of work. I had the first quarter of this chapter written er- six months ago?- but couldn't write the rest. Until two days ago.  
Being inspirated is the most awesome of feelings...

I hope you'll like this chapter. I think that it's very important because it's the start of what will be the future stories of the four characters. I hope that you'll enjoy my version of the confrontation between Ran and Shiho in this AU version of Detective Conan that is 4Points. I think that both the girls love our detective deeply but depend on him differently. Ran depends on him emotionally, Shiho more on his physical presence.

I don't know when the next, the last, chapter will come up. I hope, _hope_, before the end of the year. But I can't grant it.

I sincerely thank all the people that have reviewed and that have waited patiently. I haven't logged to ffnet for a while so I couldn't reply to you all but I will (By the way, ffnet has changed A LOT!! It took me a bit to get used to it and know how to do what). For the reviewers that are anonymous, if you want me to reply, send me a mail with your e-mail address and I'll be glad to do it.

Well, I think I've said all that I had to say.

Please, read and review.

Hear you guys soon!

Annitha


	35. A year and a half goodbye A

Four points of the same star.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Detective Conan.

FOUR POINTS OF THE SAME STAR

_**Chapter 30**_

_A year and a half goodbye (A)_

_Where we love is home,  
Home that our feet may leave,  
But not our hearts.  
_

_- Oliver Wendell Holmes  
_

* * *

The day was nice, not too warm or too cold and with that light wind that didn't make you shiver when it grazed you. Spring was definitely coming..

It was a little past noon but thankfully, the streets weren't full of cars. A dark blue motorcycle was making it's way through the streets of the eastern side of Tokyo. It came to a stop as the traffic light turned red. The driver took advantage of the stop to pull out a scrap of paper from his pocket.

-_We should be there_.- Shinichi said, through the transceiver in his helmet.

-_Hmm._- was Shiho's reply.

-_Sorry, I'd go faster but I've honestly never been in this part of the city that much_.- He stuffed the paper back in his jacket pocket. -_I know it gene__rally speaking.._.-

-_Don't worry.._- she reassured him, tightening the grip on his waist as he started the motorcycle again. -_We'll find it_.-

And they sped off.

* * *

Rei was sitting in the studio, at her desk, absently fingering the keys of Shiho's laptop. Her stare wandered off to the room and she took in the sight of the many shelves full of books, the two desks with the computers -radar on Ryu's side- the chairs pushed in and the number of cardboard boxes that were neatly ordered by the wall, full of extra paper and notes.

It was all extraordinary neat.

When they were working night and day to work out all the material from the Organization's archives, this place would look like a battlefield: chairs askew, notebooks on and beside the desks, books crammed in every free angle and a glass or bottle of water at arm's length.

Rei found this order quite strange. As did the silence.

While the four of them were in here, it was never completely silent. There would be the swift tapping on the keyboards, the soft flipping through pages of books or notebooks but most of all, their voices.

The whispers when they needed to ask something to someone and didn't want to disturb everyone else. The little chats about random subjects when they agreed that a break would be good after so much work and when Hakase would bustle in the studio -_often-_ to check on them, asking if they wanted a snack. The laughs when they would get up to get lunch or dinner ready and they would be all in the kitchen, each doing something because they all knew how to cook -though Shinichi _had_ almost melted a frying pan one day and _still_ hadn't told any of them how he managed that feat- and would suggest what they would do later in the night. Despite the fact that they all wanted to bring the Organization down as soon as possible, there were some days when they just _couldn't_ work during the night and in those occasions, they would all be in the living room reading or watching something on television. It was rare but it had happened.

The talking.

The laughing.

The silent companionship.

The being together.

Rei hadn't realized just how much she had grown accustomed to it. Nor how she dreaded to loose it. She let out a sigh and laid back on her chair.

It was time to make decisions for her future.

She had quit FBI because she felt that being an agent was not something that she wanted to do for all her life. Her passion was computer science and, she had learned this during this year, cryptology. Working out sequences of numbers and letters and finding the hidden meaning of them challenged her. Code-cracking was getting more and more into her: she would like to know more about it...

And then, there was Shinichi's suggestion...

-:-

_"A specialized-"_

_"-detective-"_

_"-agency?"_

_Shiho, Rei and Ryu repeated the words in surprise. Shinichi nodded, smiling enthusiastically._

_The three young scientists shared a glance and remained silent. The detective lost some of his eagerness and deflated a bit as he sat down._

_"What, you don't think it would be good?" he asked, "I know that it would take some time to plan it out -not to mention all the preparations- but.."_

_"Hang on." Rei raised her hand and stopped him. "What do you mean?"_

_"Huh?" Shinichi asked, looking at her._

_"I got the detective agency part but whatever do you mean with specialized? I've never heard of anything like that before."_

_"I have never heard of it before either." Shiho stated from his other side._

_Shinichi looked at both, perking up a bit when he saw that they were asking about his idea and not tossing it away. Ryu stared at him._

_"Does it have to do with us?" he asked, pointing to himself and the girls. "With the fact that we've all got a scientific degree ?"_

_Shinichi nodded._

_"It's all based on the fact that you three are scientists." he remarked, putting a great deal of effort on the last word. "Brilliant scientists."_

_"Let me get this straight.." Rei said, sitting up, "You want to open a detective agency -and I'm good with that- but you want to do all the work in question with a computer scientist, an engineer and a chemist as your collaborators?"_

_"It would be perfect!" the young detective replied._

_"How exactly?"_

_Shinichi stood up and started to walk around the kitchen, spurred by his idea._

_"Look, I really thought about this a lot." he said, looking at the three, "During my stay with the Mouris, I learned that a detective can't do everything on his own.. He's the one that puts all the clues together and, hopefully, solves the case. But... there's a problem._

_He needs help._

_He needs someone to collect the clues, analyze them and give him__ the__ results. It takes time and during that moments, anything __could happen. The culprit could escape, strike again or destroy pieces of evidence._

_I think that a detective agency should be so efficient that a criminal won't have time to even think of doing anything before getting caught."_

_And his words, the three scientists shared another glance._

_"Shinichi, what you're thinking of is an enormous feat." Ryu remarked. "As much as we've got a good scientific background, I doubt it would be enough to do what you're asking for.."_

_"Ryu's right." Shiho spoke out, "Your ideal agency would need a team for examinations such as collection of evidences, documents and depositions as first thing.. then a forensic..." She stopped talking as she noticed the grin on Shinichi's face._

_And suddenly, it all clicked in her head._

_"You nailed it, Shiho." he said with a wide grin while the girl looked at him in surprise._

_Rei and Ryu were not left behind and quickly pieced everything together._

_"Shinichi, that's insane..." Rei remarked, looking at him as though he'd just claimed that his life's aspiration was to become the new Lupin._

_"Either you have great, really great expectations on us..." Ryu added, looking just as __flabbergasted__, "Or your expectations for this agency are incredibly high.."_

_"Why?" the detective asked, sitting down. "I think that we could do this."_

_"How exactly?" Shiho asked, "You seem to forget that we're a chemist, an engineer and a computer scientist and not a whole forensic department.."_

_"That's not true.." Shinichi's eyes had turned serious. The other three realized that he truly did believe in his idea. "You're not just three scientists; three normal scientists wouldn't have brought the Organization down. You have a background that's uncommon and that makes you the perfect collaborators. This agency will be based on teamwork, not individuals; so it means the four of us as a core and then others from the outside._

_But it all starts with us."_

_He looked at Ryu._

_"Ryu, you're an engineer: electronics and mechanics are your element. You're an FBI agent.. well, you were... You know what to do during a crime scene, right?"_

_"Well, yes.." the blonde replied, recalling the scenes he had seen with Matt during his first years as agent in New York. "If it's up to collecting evidences.."_

_"And you're also a ballistic expert; that role is fundamental in many cases.."_

_"Shinichi, hold on.." Ryu interrupted him, "I worked with the bomb disposal squad, ok, but for a short period. I'm no _ballistic expert_."_

_"But you could learn, couldn't you?" the detective shot back._

_Ryu, taken aback slightly, nodded. He remembered a ballistic course in FBI: he would have followed it but at the time, he had the Organization in his mind and that would have been useless for his needs._

_Shinichi smiled and turned to Rei._

_"Rei, you know everything about computers: softwares and programming are not a problem for you. You can find anything you want on Internet or browsing through data bases.."_

_"You make me look like a hacker.." Rei stated, arching a brow. Ryu and Shiho chuckled while Shinichi grinned._

_"Well, you're _our_ hacker." he remarked. "Anyway.. You know loads about decryption and __encryption.. You__ were an FBI agent, so you know what to do during crime scenes, too..."_

_"Well... that's something that all of us can do.." Rei cut through his sentence, sitting straighter, "We all know how to behave during a crime: you don't have to be an FBI agent to do that. You and Shiho know how to collect evidences and depositions just like we could, surely. To put it simple.._

_What I'm asking is, if each one of us has a role and Ryu's the technician of the team, what's my job?"_

_Shinichi grinned. There was something in Rei's voice that caught his attention; it was a business-like tone, the one she had when she spoke of cryptology, of working the data of the Organization_

_'She's with me..' he thought and he shot a glance at Ryu, 'He too.. They don't realist it, but they're already accepting..'_

_"You would be the one that verifies all the evidences. A forensic and evidence specialist just like Ryu." he said, "Though you would work digitally. It doesn't mean that you only have to recover data from.. I don't know... computers or other digital media. You could verify the depositions, control if the suspects are honest."_

_"You mean, checking phone calls, bank accounts, credit card movements and that stuff?"_

_"Yes but you would do also the facial composite. Police agencies use software for that.."_

_"Yes, FACES, E-FIT, PRO-fit."_

_Shinichi looked at her in surprise._

_"You know how to use them?" he asked in astonishment but Rei shook her head._

_"I heard of them.." she replied, "There was a course, when I getting in FBI, that taught you how to use them. I would have taken that but at the time..."_

_"It seemed a surplus." Ryu completed. Rei turned to him in surprise._

_"Yes.." she said with astonishment._

_"I thought the same of a ballistic course." he remarked, glancing at her. She nodded slowly._

_"You could learn how to use those software, right?" Shinichi asked. Rei turned to him and nodded again. Trying to hide his smile, but failing miserably, the young detective turned to Shiho._

_"As for you, Shiho.." he said with a light smile, "You would be the medical examiner and forensic expert as well; anything chemical or biological would be yours to work. And of course, DNA analysis would be yours too."_

_"You seem to forget that I am a chemist and not a biologist or a doctor." the reddish-blonde remarked airily, "By the way things are, I would be the one to examine the corpses, right?" Shinichi nodded. "I don't have a qualification to do that."_

_"But don't you know how to do it?" Shinichi asked, looking straight at her. "You must have done a biological analysis of a human body.. Surely, you would know how to discover the cause of death of a being.."_

_Shiho thought this over. She had studied dead bodies before but they were mice. Her own lab-testing mice after the assumption of her drug. She had done blood analysis and dissections to see how they had died._

_A further study could allow her to do the same with human bodies..._

_"So..?" Shinichi pressed on, "Though I'm sure you know how to this, couldn't you learn what you think you can't do?"_

_Shiho looked at him and felt Rei and Ryu's eyes on her. The girl nodded. Shinichi grinned broadly._

_"I'm not asking for an immediate answer." he stated, looking at the three, "I just wanted to talk to you about this idea and about your roles in it. Think about it.. We still have some time.."_

_"Some time?" Shiho asked, noticing the time limitation. "Why?"_

_"Er-__" Shi__nichi scratched the back of his head, feeling uncomfortable. He suddenly realized that he should have talked to Shiho about this before..._

_"Well..." he said, "I told you that I'd like to study Crim..."_

_"Oh.. right." Shiho cut through his sentence. She looked perfectly unperturbed. "You'll be going abroad to study.."_

_"Y..yes..."_

_Both Rei and Ryu shot a furtive glance to the chemist, before looking at the detective and saving him from answering._

_"You'll get an answer soon.."_

-:-

Rei sighed softly, sitting back on her chair.

Shinichi's idea was tempting.. but there was so much to plan and many things to decide...

"Rei?"

The girl looked towards the door and saw Ryu getting into the studio.

"What are you doing?" he asked, stopping in front of her.

"Nothing.." she replied; seeing his arched brow, she said: "Thinking about Shinichi's idea..."

"I've been thinking about it too." he remarked, "The temptation to accept is great.."

"But?" Rei asked, sensing the doubt in his tone and she slowly stood up.

"..but how long would it take to do all of it?" Ryu ran a hand through his hair. "Each one of us will have a specific role in this agency. Each one of us will have to study and get the necessary preparation and instruments to do the assigned work."

"Why does time worry you so much? We have plenty of it.."

"That's not true."

Rei stared at him.

"What?" she asked.

"Well... think about it.." he stated, walking to the window, "We left FBI.. so we're currently unemployed.. but we're receiving job offers from every odd agency and company worldwide. We'll have to take a decision soon because, brilliant or not, they won't wait for us forever.."

"So..." Rei approached him to the window, "It's now or never.."

Ryu glanced at her.

"I.. honestly speaking..." he muttered, "I am tempted to accept the offers, Rei."

"You will?" she asked, looking at him, looking slightly surprised. "Then..?"

"Wait..." Ryu cut through her sentence, "I want to talk to Shinichi about this. I've thought about his offer and I'd like to work with him.. but I have to be up to my role and what he wants me to do. Working abroad with different companies can help me."

Rei stared at him, wondering how he always seemed to know what to do when a new situation occurred. She didn't have this ability: she needed more time to think and was less intuitive than he was. Intelligent and rational as she was, she lacked in instinct.

She looked out of the window, watching the tree leaved sway lightly for the breeze.

Ryu's reasoning was right. There were many things to do and they needed time.

But did they have it? They all had things to do..

Shinichi would be going abroad to study but, knowing him, he would probably do other things to be more qualified.

Shiho mentioned Hakase's offer of working for some projects with his colleagues but Rei was sure that she would receive many other offers too.

Ryu had to choose among dozens of offers and more and more seemed to come. And the same went for her.

It was all a question of time and they all had to take a decision.

Their future was waiting.

"Rei?"

The girl turned to her side and found herself gazing into Ryu's light blue eyes.

"Are you all right?" he asked, looking concerned, "I didn't mean to make you worry with my rambling.."

Rei smiled and shook her head.

"No.." she replied, "I just realized that you are right. I think that we have all been avoiding to really take a decision till now because we knew that it would have separated us.

But Shinichi's idea.. well, it gives us a chance that we can't throw away. We just have to talk and decide together. The four of us."

"For the time span?" he asked.

"Yes. If we know how long it would take to really create this agency, we can decide what job offers to accept or decline."

"So.. you're agreeing with me in accepting some of the offers?"

Rei looked up at Ryu and smiled again and the boy felt a slight flutter in his chest.

"Yes.." she said, "You always seem to know what to do.. as usual.."

Ryu grinned slightly, noticing the teasing note in her tone.

"Of course." he stated. Rei grinned too.

"Well.. we just have to wait for Shinichi and Shiho to come back and then we'll know exactly what to do.."

"Hmm..."

They stayed silent for a while, the noise from outside reaching them softly.

"Do you think that they have already got there?" Rei asked, gaze fixed on the window.

Ryu glanced at her.

"They might have.." he said, "They left almost an hour ago."

"Shiho's brave." Rei stated, leaning against the window sill with her back, "I don't know if I would have gone.."

"It's a chance.." Ryu said, "A chance to know more and find things and memories.."

"Or to just hope uselessly and find nothing.."

He looked at the girl and found her staring at him.

"That's true.. I couldn't go back to my house because it had burnt down.. There was nothing left.."

"Well... mine was sold weeks after I left for Europe." Rei said, "I never wondered where all the things of the house went.. they were probably sold too.."

Another full blown silence fell between them, only to be shattered, moments later by the doorbell and the sound of the lock being opened.

Rei and Ryu looked at each other.

"It must Agase." Rei said, "He must have come to check on Shiho and Shinichi."

"Let's go.." Ryu remarked, "We'll have to tell him that they'll be gone till this evening."

And they went out of the room to meet the old doctor.

* * *

It was a rather modest neighborhood.

The buildings weren't very high and were made of dusty bricks and peeling whitewashed walls. Rusty iron terraces surfaced beneath old windows and the only touch of color came from the cloths' lines, littered with garments of all sizes.

Shinichi and Shiho had followed the directions to this road, hidden to many and yet so close to one of the main highways of Tokyo. They got down from the bike and walked among the buildings.

Shinichi looked around, feeling as though he had reached another city and was not in his own.

'It looks so different from the houses at Beika..' he thought.

He turned around to Shiho but she was already walking ahead of him, looking at the buildings' numbers, trying to find the one that interested them.

His gaze fell on her face and he saw how her eyes betrayed her calm demeanour: surprise, anxiety and a hint of fear.

Fear not to find something but to find nothing. To have the last traces of her sister taken away once again by the Organization

He sighed softly and approached her. She had stopped in front of one of the middle buildings.

He called her.

-:-

_"Shiho?"_

_They were all leaving the kitchen and heading to the living room. Their talk about Shinichi's offer was momentarily over._

_"Yes?"_

_The girl turned around and looked at the blond engineer. Shinichi was halfway to the living room and had stopped, sensing, she thought, the strange hint that she had caught in Ryu's tone. Rei, standing next to him, looked rather solemn._

_"What happened?" she asked, the alarm bells in her head ringing madly._

_"Well..." Ryu weaved a hand through his hair: a trademark sign of his nervousness. "I have something for you and.. it's better if I give it to you immediately."_

_"What is it?" She looked at the boy. "Ryu?"_

_She felt Shinichi's presence at her side and Ryu and Rei shared a glance._

_"FBI has been collecting all the information in the BO Headquarters." Ryu said, looking at her, "It's a lot of material and it will probably take a while to have it all analyzed and cataloged. Besides the information about their activities, there's also a large quantity of documents regarding their victims, collaborators and.. operatives."_

_He paused and Shiho's heart started to beat faster._

_"My sister?" she whispered, "Did you find something that belonged to her?"_

_"There was a register of all her activities, Shiho." Rei replied, looking at her, "All the information regarding her: from schooling to.. minor__ wor__ks she did for the Organization"_

_Her heart lurched._

_"Is she going to be classified as an active operative?" she asked, keeping her voice steady. She couldn't allow that: her sister couldn't be remembered as a member of the Organization_

_"No, don't worry." Ryu said, "Matt's taking care of the issue. Akemi-san helped us at the beginning of the plan: we will do everything to have her record cleared and let everyone know what she had done."_

_Shiho let out a relieved sigh and felt Shinichi's fingers curve around her own. She glanced at him and gently squeezed his hand._

_"There was material about your parents but it's still far from being classified, so you'll have to wait to get to know more about it." Rei remarked._

_"Same goes for the information about my family and Rei's parents." Ryu added, "However, Matt managed to work on Akemi-san's case before other ones and collected all the material regarding her. And, he found..." He put his hand in his jeans' pocket and withdrew a key. "..this."_

_"What..?" Shiho's heart started beating faster again._

_"According to what we found.." Rei said slowly, "You sister had an apartment here in Tokyo. She lived there most of the time and it seemed that she had moved to another place only before.."_

_"The million yen robbery." Shinichi completed, "The police found the apartment where she lived as Masami Hirota during the case."_

_"So.." Shiho's voice trembled ever so lightly but it didn't go unnoticed to the others. "That's the key to her apartment?"_

_Ryu smiled slightly and approached; he took her free hand and gently put the key in her palm._

_"Matt gave it to me secretly so that you could go there before FBI does.." he confessed, "We have to send it back to him before it's disappearance is noticed."_

_"Ryu.. thank you." she whispered, looking at the key in her hand and then at him but the boy shook his head._

_"Thank Matt because he's the one that actually took the key." he said, "And Rei, who remembered that your sister had hidden those tapes for you without allowing the Organization to find them.." He smiled. "I'm just the deliverer."_

_Shiho smiled and looked at Rei._

_"Thank you."_

_Rei shook her head looked at her._

_"Shiho..." she said, "I think I have to warn you that the Organization has already been in the apartment after your sister's death." She glanced at Ryu. "We thought that it was right for you to go there before FBI searched the place but.. I honestly don't know what you can find.."_

_Shiho nodded, closing her fist and feeling the cold metal against her skin._

_She had to keep her hopes down, she knew that.. but the lingering feeling that maybe there was still something that belonged to her sister in that apartment, couldn't leave her._

_She turned to Shinichi._

_"Do you think that we could go now?" she asked, "Would you mind taking..?"_

_"Of course." he replied, cutting through her phrase and smiled._

_Shiho's lips curved too._

-:-

"Shiho?"

The girl turned around, reddish-blonde strands swaying in the movement. She saw Shinichi approach her with a slightly concerned look.

"This is the house." she said as soon as he was by her side. "We have to find apartment number 7."

"Ok." he said.

They walked through the front door and into a small hallway. Shinichi eyed the line of mail boxes and he soon found the one marked 7.

The name tag had been ripped off but the first letters of the name were still visible.

'Mi..' he thought, reading it, 'As Miyano..'

Shiho noticed it too. They shared a glance and went to the staircase: it seemed that the building didn't have an elevator.

After two floors, they found the apartment.

Shiho saw that there wasn't a name tag anywhere, not even under the doorbell; moreover, the door looked completely normal and undamaged.

Shinichi crouched down to check the lock.

"They must have used the key to get in." he stated, standing up, "There aren't any signs of scratches by the lock."

Shiho reached for the key in her jacket pocket. She held it in her hand, observing it.

Shinichi looked at her.

"Are you ready?" he asked softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. She nodded.

"Yes."

The key was inserted and for a heart stopping moment, Shiho thought that it wasn't the right one: it didn't turn instantly.

"Turn it harder." Shinichi said softly, "It must have been a while since someone went in."

Shiho tried again and the lock clicked open; the door moved with a squeaking sound and they went inside.

Shinichi gently closed the door behind him while Shiho walked into the apartment, looking around and barely breathing as she took in the first sight of her sister's house.

Maybe... this was the place where Akemi had hoped that they would have both lived together once they left the Organization

Shinichi walked to the windows and opened them, letting some fresh air and sunlight fill the room. Shiho just kept looking around in silence.

It was a small apartment. The living room with kitchen in a room and a small corridor that lead to the bathroom next to the bedroom. Even thought it wasn't very big and didn't have a lot of furniture, it was cozy. The decor was very simple and yet, it conveyed a homely sense despite the evident state of abandon of the house.

A small, dusty, couch draped with a blue throw faced a small table with a television and a DVD and videotape recorder. Another table, longer and made of heavy wood, was next to the kitchen area with four chairs pulled in; a blue glass vase with withered flowers was in the middle of it.

Shinichi looked through the kitchenette. A small cupboard with a few plates, glasses and utensils; another vase with dried flowers was on top of it; a stove with oven next to a small fridge. He opened it and found it working but empty. Arching a brow, Shinichi looked around the room: despite the dust, the house was extremely in order.. but...

Frowning slightly, he turned to look at Shiho but didn't see her. He walked down the corridor, glanced into the bathroom -that was small, tidy and quite empty- and found her in the bedroom: she had opened the window and was standing against the sill, staring at the room.

The bed occupied most of the room while a wardrobe and a bedside table were on the sides. A small cupboard with mirror was opposite the window. A withered plant in a plastic pot was next to the table. And like the other rooms, the bedroom was dusty but extremely in order and tidy.

"What do you think?"

Shinichi turned to Shiho as she spoke out of the blue but she wasn't looking at him. Her eyes were staring the room vacantly.

"They searched the house thoroughly.." he said, approaching her. "..and made it seem as though Akemi-san had left the house on her own will... As though she had moved or gone for a holiday .."

"They took everything.." she whispered, "The cupboards and desks... there isn't anything belonging to Akemi here.."

Shinichi sighed softly, sensing Shiho's disappointment. He had noticed that the house lacked of items such as photographs, personal accessories and clothing.

"Shiho..." he started but she stopped him, shaking her head.

"Rei warned me. Ryu warned me." Shiho turned to look at him. "_You_ warned me... and I just kept hoping... stupidly.."

"You had every right to hope." he retorted kindly, "I think that... it's not over yet..."

Shiho looked at him.

"What?" she exclaimed, "Shinichi, there isn't anything left here!"

The boy looked at her with a smile.

"We can still check around and see if the BO operatives didn't find something..." he said in a matter of fact tone, "Besides.. don't forget that Akemi-san had already fooled the Organization, hiding the cassettes your mother left for you."

"I doubt that she would have used the same trick twice.." Shiho replied. "If one hideout was found, the other would be easily found too.."

"But it's worth a try.." Shinichi remarked and headed to the bathroom. Shiho watched him for a moment and followed him slowly.

Shinichi stepped on top of the toilet seat and looked into the box above. He didn't find anything. Frowning slightly, he stepped back down.

"Nothing..." he whispered.

"What did I tell you?" Shiho said from behind him. Shinichi turned around, hearing the disappointment in her tone again, and took his chin with his hand.

"Let's check the rest of the house." he said after a while. "There's something... that I don't understand.."

"Wha-?" Shiho attempted to say but Shinichi just walked past her and into the living room. He started to check every piece of furniture, opening the cupboards' doors and drawers.

"Shinichi, what are you looking for?" she asked but he didn't reply, too lost in his thoughts as he searched the house.

Slightly irritated by his attitude and her growing sense of disappointment, she approached him and grabbed his wrist, stopping his search.

"Eh?" he asked with confusion.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"I think that your sister must have left you something."

"What?" Shiho left his hand and stared at him. "Shinichi, the Organization took everything from the house! There isn't anything left.. If Nee-san had left me something, it's been obviously taken away."

Shinichi stared back at her and Shiho felt as though she was being x-rayed by his sharp, detective eyes.

"I don't think so." he stated and looked around the house. "I think that Akemi-san expected a raid from the Organization"

"That's impossible.. She left this house thinking that she would be back after the-" Shiho stopped talking and looked at Shinichi with wide eyes. "Unless... she knew..?"

Shinichi looked at her with sad eyes. An old wound, that had never healed fully, suddenly opened again in Shiho's heart: pain and guilt washed through her being.

'Nee-san...' she thought, struggling to keep the emotions in order, 'Did you sacrifice yourself to this point... for me?'

Shinichi watched her in silence, without knowing what to say to comfort her. Shiho was shaken: he could see it in her rigid stance and in her clouded eyes, partially hidden by her bangs.

He swallowed uneasily and took a deep breath.

"I think that she suspected that something would have happened to her after the robbery.." he said softly, "I noticed a couple of things, looking around the house.." He glanced at the girl and saw that she was listening, though her eyes were still covered.

"Nobody has lived here for the past year.. but don't you find it strange that..." He opened the fridge. "..there's still electricity but no water?" He opened the sink's faucet and nothing but a low rumbling noise came out.

Shiho stared at him.

"When I checked the toilet box, I noticed that it was completely dry: there wasn't a drop of water in it." Shinichi explained. "It's normal that, since no one has lived here for months and none of the bills have been paid, the water has been cut out."

"But not the light..." Shiho stated.

"Exactly. The gas is not here either. The only thing that works perfectly is the light. Akemi-san must have paid all the electric bills for the entire year..."

"What could it mean?"

"I think Akemi-san left you something.. to see or hear.." Shinichi remarked, pointing towards the TV table. "The only thing that uses electricity in here besides the kitchen accessories is the television set..."

"A tape?" Shiho asked uncertainly. Shinichi shrugged.

"It's only a guess.." he admitted. "The only conclusion I came to.."

"Shinichi, there isn't anything in the house. They took everything away.."

"That's the point." the detective approached her and put his hands on her shoulders, staring into her eyes. "Shiho, there's something hidden in here but you -_you_- are the one that can find it. Akemi-san must have thought that the house would have been searched and, if she left you something, it's hidden in a place that no one else but you know."

The girl just stared back, unsure on what to do. Shinichi squeezed her shoulders lightly.

"I'm sure that you can find it." he whispered, "Just... remember your sister. Something that she could have told you.. her habits.. the clue could be there.."

Shiho nodded and the boy stepped back, releasing her from his grip. The young chemist looked around the living room, taking in every detail, hoping that it would trigger a memory.

Ignoring the dull ache in her heart, she recalled moments spent with Akemi.

Conversations had during their always-so-short meetings. Her sister's warm hugs. Her smiles. Shiho suddenly found herself in a trip through her memories as she slowly went back in time to the years before she was Sherry. The days before she went to study abroad and saw Akemi rarely: she found herself recalling the vague memories of her childhood.

Unknowingly, she started to walk and went down the corridor to the bedroom.

Shinichi stayed still, not wanting to disturb her while she was so deep in thought. He waited, leaning against the table. After a couple of minutes, Shiho appeared again in the living room, absorbed look on her face as her stare wandered through the furniture in the living room.

He watched her as her stare fell on him. Her eyes passed from absent to disappointed and his heart ached. He suddenly doubted his own theories.

'Nothing...' he thought, 'Then wh- Huh?'

He saw that Shiho's eyes changed again. They were focused on something behind him.

"What, Shiho?" he asked, straightening up, "What did you remember?"

She didn't answer but just kept staring. Following her gaze, Shinichi turned around and saw that she was looking at the flower vase. Confused, he turned back just to find Shiho standing in front of him.

'What, Shiho?" he repeated.

"She hated flowers like this..." the girl replied in a monotone.

"What?" Shinichi was downright confused now.

Shiho seemed to snap out of her trance. She looked at him, azure eyes filled with slight confusion.

"One-san never liked cut flowers." she explained slowly, slanting a glance at the vase on the table, "She thought that cutting a flower from a plant was equal to killing it. She used to say that a flower was an ephemeral beauty, destined to die shortly afterward and so different from a plant that could follow it's natural cycle.."

"Ah..." Shinichi remarked, taking in her words, "Then... why are there flowers here if she didn't like them?"

"There are two vases in this room." Shiho remarked, "And the plant in the-"

She stopped and Shinichi whipped around to look at her. His trademark smile appeared on his face.

"A plant in the bedroom." he said, "Not flowers.."

He dashed down the corridor and was back a few moments later with the plastic potted plant. He put it on the table while Shiho looked at it.

"Shinichi, it's too small to hide a tape." she said, keeping her disappointment beneath her calm tone.

The detective had been thinking on the same lines but, sensing her dejection, he kept a light tone.

"Well, let's see what's in here anyway..." he said, "There has to be something..."

He turned the pot upside down, spilling soil and dried leaves on the table. Gently, he shook the pot, allowing the last bits of dry earth to fall out.

"Well.." he whispered, "Let's see what's in here.."

He took the block of earth that held the plant and it's roots. As the soil crumbled beneath his fingers, a brown paper, trapped in the roots, caught his attention.

Shiho, who was watching his every single move from behind him, gasped softly.

"It's a package!" she exclaimed.

"Yes.." he replied, just as surprised.

'It's too small to be a tape.. though..' he though.

Shinichi took the package out the plant's roots, shaking all the earth off, and looked at it.

It was a square made of brown package paper and was very light and thin.

Without thinking too much, he handed the package to Shiho.

The girl managed to crack a smile as she took it from him. She slowly opened the package and found a small CD-Rom covered with a plastic bag.

She stared at the circular object in her hand, wondering what it could contain.

"We should have brought a laptop..It could be full of information of your family." Shinichi mused as he dusted his hands, "Or maybe an audio message or-"

He looked up since the girl didn't answer and saw that Shiho was standing in front of the DVD. She had already inserted the disk inside the player and was turning on the television. Understanding her state, he shook his head and smiled slightly.

"I saw a remote controller before.." he stated, "It was here in one of these drawers.."

Shiho stood in front of the television and watched as the screen came to life. Shinichi approached the cupboard and rummaged through the drawers to find the remote.

What neither had expected was that the CD would have played on its own. The TV screen suddenly passed from a white background to the specular image of the living room where they were standing.

They heard a rustling sound in the background as the camera's objective was focused on the couch.

And then...

"_Hi, Shiho."_

Shinichi's eyes widened and the newly found remote control fell on the floor while Shiho felt her legs give away and dropped on the couch.

On screen, sitting on the the same couch where Shiho was seated, calm and smiling and looking straight at them, was Akemi Miyano.

"One-san..." Shiho whispered, staring at the screen with wide eyes.

Whatever she had expected from the CD, wasn't this.

* * *

Hi, everyone..

I won't say the same words all over again. I'm getting sort of repetitive: I've noticed it reading the previous author's notes

I truly apologize for the delay and for the half done chapter.. I'm stuck on the next half and had to post this half before I got tired and deleted everything

I hope to receive some reviews and see if there are any mistakes or else..

Hear you guys soon!


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